That's The Trouble With Love
by iNaji
Summary: He loves her with all his heart, but he'll push her away to keep her safe. She detests him for what he's done and wants nothing more than to see him suffer the same pain she has. Yes, surely that's the trouble with love. "Damnit Sakura! Can't you see why I have to do this?" SasuSaku, NaruHina Side: ShikaIno, NejiTen
1. Sound The Alarm! Uchiha & Hyuga Return!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...SADLY

**Okay so I cant seem to find a nice little SasuSaku fic with a SasuHina sibling-ship and a strong NaruHina side pairing so I decided to make my own little one. **

**A few things to know before hand. **

**This is a ninja fic and yes Sasuke will be OOC as well as Hinata but the reason for this is Sasuke is going to have Hinata with him on his travels...so he isn't going to be a cold emotionless bastard. He will be human because Hinata will keep him human.**

** _THIS IS NOT A SASUXHINA FIC!_**

**its a SasuHina sibling-ship, no more, no less. So no worries. There will be no harem, strictly SasuSaku...but that doesn't mean their wont be a few girls trying to get his attention. SasuSaku** and** NaruHina wont just happen in my story, it will take awhile. I believe that's about it. Happy reading!**

**ALSO! I've made corrections to this chapter, and will be going back through and proofreading/refining chapters.  
**

* * *

"Are you ready Onii-chan? It's been 6 years since we were here. I feel nervous." Hinata said as she stood atop the great walls of Konoha, her long, silky, beautiful ink blue/purple hair flowing in the breeze like wisps. Her once short bangs now appeared to have grown to form around her face, covering her right eye in a curved fashion, leaving only her left eye visible.

She had two longer bangs on each side of her face like she always had and her hair had easily grown to about mid calf length, with the back of it tied into a long braid. She had a small stature, she was petite yet curvy, a woman of 5'1" with a purple dress that ended just above her mid thigh with an off the shoulder kimono style sleeve made of fishnet and the other a sleeve made of the cloth. There was a good sized slit exposing her left leg and the black short spandex shorts underneath with fishnets on her knees and elbows as well as fingerless gloves and black strappy ninja sandals like Tsunade's. Strapped to her back were two katana's in an X fashion.

She hadn't seen these building's in years. She knew she would have no easy time being accepted, but that didn't diminish her resolve in the slightest.

"Hn. Yes Imouto." Sasuke said, in his ever stoic tone with a face set in a cold glare. Though Hinata knew it was just a front, after training with him for 3 years, she knew he was a big old softie at heart.

Sasuke, unlike Hinata, was a very tall man, standing at about 6'1" with spiky raven hair, and onyx eyes, with a white shirt, that opens in the front exposing his well defined chest, and black pants with metal plated black ninja sandals and a blue rope tied around his waist. (A/N: No he did not train or is associated with Orochimaru in this fic. I just happen to like his Shippuden outfit so in this story Sasuke is wearing the Shippuden outfit with a different color rope) with a single Katana placed on his waist, held by his rope.

It had been three years since the day they both left. But it was better for both of them, they had concluded, because now they were stronger, faster, wiser, and just overall better. It wasn't an easy three years, but it paid off.

After getting the mental signals from their Sensei's, both 18 year old's jumped off the wall and masked their chakra, landing silently inside Konoha.

"Tch. This place hasn't changed one bit." Sasuke said watching the villagers and Shinobi navigate through Konoha. He didn't show it, or want to admit it, but he was a lot more nervous then he let on to be, not only because he was back in the village, but because he could potentially see her.

And she could be his downfall. She's dangerous, and he knows this. He can't let her get past his barriers. He can't love her.

He won't.

"Well lets just get to the Hokage. The faster and smoother we get there the better. Harumi-Sensei said she would meet us at the Hokage tower and Sou-sensei said he would as well." Hinata saw Sasuke's affirmation and started running from rooftop to rooftop at breakneck speed.

* * *

"They what?" The Hokage exclaimed in absolute shock. She didn't want her job at first. She didn't want anything to do with Konoha. That brat, he made her change her mind, got her to become Hokage. He has a way of changing people, and as much as Tsunade grumbles when he calls her Baa-Chan, she's glad she met a boy like Naruto.

"Hai, they defeated Orochimaru, with our help of course." Harumi said grinning. Just how much had they grown? Tsunade had questioned to herself, now standing with her back turned to the two adults in the room, staring out at her village.

"Well Tsunade-sama, seeing as Hinata and Sasuke are right outside the door, why don't I let them explain all that happened." Sou-Sensei said as he smirked just the tiniest bit as Hinata and Sasuke entered. The Hokage was again shocked. The two young adults that stood before her were definitely not the twelve year old Genin she had remembered.

Hinata had most certainly matured. Tsunade could see that clearly in more ways than one just by looking at her figure. And Sasuke, such a domineering presence, she decided as she scanned the young man. He was dashingly handsome, as comes nothing less of being Uchiha blood.

"Ahh Hinata its been quite awhile hasn't it, you too Sasuke." Tsunade spoke, still standing behind her desk, but no longer facing the window.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." Hinata said, glancing at Sasuke expecting him to start the explaining. Tsunade laughed. "Now tell me, how have the past three years been?"

"Well...it all started on the night Imouto came to me..."

_FLASHBACK_

_"Arigato, Sakura-Chan." Sasuke whispered just as he knocked Sakura out. It was all he could do, he told himself, because if she had spoken any more words, his resolve would have faded. He would have stayed a weakling in Konoha, would have succumbed to what he can only dream of, a life with Sakura. _

_And he couldn't very well let that happen. Because Sasuke Uchiha is an avenger, and avengers don't deserve angels like her.  
_

_As Sasuke was about to leave, Hinata jumped out of the bushes and stopped in front of him. He looked at her questioningly, guard raised slightly. Sasuke never knew much about the Hyuga girl, only that she was Neji''s cousin and never fawned over him, which, in some way mad her tolerable to him. Because, Sasuke wasn't much of a people person to begin with anyway._

_"Sasuke-san, please take me with you, I am to weak here on my own in the village, and I know I can get stronger outside of the village. I-I know you don't know me very well, but I promise not to hold you back." Hinata looked at Sasuke, pleading with everything she had, to a boy she had only ever seen from afar. She was hoping he would take her with him to get stronger._

_She knew she was weak. She didn't need to be told. But she also knew she had potential, and that with the right teacher, she could achieve it. She may be shy now, but she was determined to prove everyone wrong.  
_

_"Hinata-San, you would become a missing nin! And give up your family...are you sure? Because I don't plan on coming back." Sasuke said, stoic as ever, as he looked at her, Sharingan activated to make sure no one was watching them from any concealed places.  
_

_He always kept his guard up, he couldn't afford to drop it no matter the circumstance, he must always be ready for anything. No one would catch him off guard.  
_

_"My family thinks I am a disgrace. They never loved me, and I don't belong there. I want to get stronger as well. I do not want to be shy, weak, Hinata anymore." She dug around in her bag tossing a medium sized scroll over to Sasuke. _

_"Consider this a thank you for letting me come along." Sasuke caught the scroll swiftly and expertly, with little effort. It had the Uchiha crest on it, which intrigued him. He was pretty sure he had all of his clans old scrolls in his old apartment, so how did she ever manage to get this?  
_

_He didn't have time to ponder it much, however. They had best be on their way, less they be caught.  
_

_"Alright. Let's go." Sasuke leapt into the trees and off into the night, followed by Hinata, her Byakugan activated to keep watch._

_~Some Days Later~_

_They had just set up camp a few hours ago. Hinata was fast asleep, snuggled in her sleeping bag, dreaming of Naruto. Sasuke had volunteered to take the first watch, he also wanted to take this chance alone to read the scroll Hinata had given him. He didn't know what it contained, but after a few days of traveling, his curiosity was at it's limit. _

_Perched on his branch, body resting on his back of his legs, Sasuke took the scroll, opened it up, and began to read. He gave it a once over first, observing the intricate yet sloppy hand writing. He carefully laid his eyes on the first word, and began to read slowly, making sure he didn't miss a single word.  
_

**_'It is with a heavy heart that I ask Itachi to do this, to murder his entire clan to stop the coup. It is awful, that Sasuke must suffer for the arrogance that is the Uchiha clan. I asked Itachi the other day, if he would carry out this double S class secret mission._ _I do not want to do this, and I tried to stop them, but they just wont listen to me. And with the elders breathing down my back, I really am at a loss. Itachi had told me that he would do it, and become a spy for Akatsuki, but still be loyal to Konoha. He told me that he wouldn't kill his dear brother, but instead he wants his brother to become strong enough to kill him and relieve him of this burden I regretfully placed on him. His hope for Sasuke was to defeat Orochimaru (because he is after the Sharingan) and that you rebuild the clan to its former glory. I have hope for Sasuke...I just hope, that he doesn't let the darkness consume him. _**

_**Signed,**_

_**Sarutobi, The Sandaime Hokage**_

_Sasuke was speechless as he re-read the scroll over and over again. His hands were shaking. **'So Itachi wasn't a cold blooded murderer, but in fact had saved Konoha from a coup? But then why did he tell me to grow strong with hate and to kill him? Why did he not kill me? Why does he think I can rebuild the Uchiha clan? How can I hate my brother when all he did was for me?' **_

_His mind was in turmoil with this new information. He was confused. His heart was conflicting with his brain and before he knew it tears had started falling down his cheeks. **'Stupid,'** he thought **'Shinobi don't cry.'** It seemed like Sasuke had been crying for hours (but had only been five minutes) before he felt himself pulled into a hug. Hinata had woken up, as it was her turn to take the shift. Sasuke flinched at first from the contact, but slowly relaxed leaving his arms to rest at his sides.  
_

_The last time he had hugged someone, was his mother. And that was such a long time ago. It was a foreign concept to him. At a very young age he had learned to lock away and suppress his emotions, so for them to suddenly surface, it was a shock to his system.  
_

_He was told to hate his brother, and only to come and fight him when he could look into his eyes with the exact same hate Itachi held. But, Itachi was a good ninja, a loyal ninja to Konoha, so why? Why had Itachi told Sasuke to hate him and kill him?  
_

_"I k-know your confused S-Sasuke-san. But I'm h-h-here for you. My family, they n-never loved me, I h-h-haven't had a f-family since my mother died. But I know what its like to be s-shadowed by someone who is better t-t-than you. I'm always in N-Neji's shadow. But let me be your f-family Sasuke-san. I, I know that we can get strong together, and plus, I never had a big b-brother before..." Hinata said, a small embarrassed blush staining her cheeks and her stutter starting to show. She was shocked at herself for being so bold, as it took all her might to confront Sasuke earlier without stuttering. _

_All her life, since her mother died, Hinata had been the black sheep of the Hyuga clan. Her gentle nature just didn't suit well with the clan. Her little sister, at this point, was FAR more advanced than her. She could already perform the Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms technique while Hinata could only manage thirty two. Her father had refused to train her, pawning her off to Kurenai-Sensei because he could not deem her fit or worthy of his time. To him she was a weak little girl who looked and acted to much like her mother. And Neji, he was the prodigy, but he is a branch member. He's so much stronger than Hinata, and that only angers her family more.  
_

_They never gave her the time of day. They never cared for her. They prided themselves in Hanabi and Neji, and her father, even's gone so far as to REFUSE he has two daughters. So, what was left there for her? What family did she have left?  
_

_Sasuke pulled away from Hinata's hug and looked at her, feeling a little better. He was still utterly confused, but, he would have time to think it over. To find a new purpose, and this time, when he finally met with Itachi, he wanted answers. "I...Hinata-san...your the only girl who didn't fawn over me in the academy, and your the only one who's tried to see me besides Sakura. The real me, not some good looking Uchiha who is mysterious and aloof. I...I never had a little sister before...so I think I'd like that. Let's be a family from now on." Hinata smiled and nodded "Arigato, Sasuke-Onii-san" Sasuke nodded, quickly reverting back to his stoic mask. "Arigato...Imouto."_

_And with that Sasuke retired to his tent for the night, and Hinata took the rest of the watch. They weren't sure what the future held, but, at least they would have each other to get them though it.  
_

* * *

"...And that's how we got to where we are today. Family wise." Sasuke finished, and Tsunade just stared slack jawed at the two. (A/N: Everything else about abilities will be revealed at different times)

"That is certainly quite something. However, I can't just let you off the hook, despite me knowing both of your Sensei's quite well. As your punishment, your going to serve 200 hours of community service, and also, until you've been cleared to take the Jounin exams, you will still be considered Konoha Genin. Seeing as your back for good, Hinata I'll send an ANBU to get your things from the Hyuga mansion. As far as I know, your things haven't been touched. And Sasuke, I think its about time you moved back into your clan house ne? I've had my men fix it up on the outside, however I felt I would leave the inside to you. It would be nice to see some life in the Uchiha district again." Sasuke nodded, catching the keys as Tsunade tossed them to Sasuke. As for you Hinata, I had an apartment rented out for you, and I think you'll quite like the location." Tsunade said with a knowing grin and a wink. That made Hinata nervous because she knew the Hokage was notorious for embarrassing the crap out of you.

"Tsunade-sama we both have one request, however." Sasuke said looking to Hinata to finish the rest. "You see Hokage-sama, we don't want anyone to know were back in Konoha yet. We want to surprise everyone, for our own reasons." Hinata grinned sheepishly as she stared at the Hokage.

"Alright, thats fair enough. Your dismissed. Go reacquaint yourself with the village, a lot has changed since you were last here." Both Sasuke and Hinata bowed and poofed out of the room in a mix of lightning and water.

They arrived on a random roof top. It was Sasuke who spoke first. "Hinata it just dawned on me that once I start living in the Uchiha Compound people will know that I'm back. And I thought we were going to surprise everyone." Hinata mulled it over for awhile.

"Well maybe we should just somehow gather all the Rookies into the training ground and then reveal were back. Maybe we should just start fighting each other full strength." Hinata suggested, seeing as they couldn't do what they originally wanted to.

"Hn." Sasuke smirked and ran to the nearest training field. If memory served correctly it was his old training ground. Training ground 7. Hinata grinned and followed, releasing a little bit of the seal on her wrist, as it started to creep up the side of her arm in a swirling helix pattern. And then her eyes started to glow with a purple hue, and her body morphed into a being of pure white, with black helix tattoos up both her arms, her hair extended just to her ankles, what was once an inky blue turned into a majestic light purple and if the scythe in her hand was any indication, she looked very, very dangerous.

By now Sasuke was already in level 2 of his curse seal (A/N: Despite him not going off with Orochimaru he still got it in the Chuunin exams). His whole body morphed into this black and purple looking monster with wings. A black diamond seemed to make its way onto his face, spanning from one cheek to the other across his nose. He hastily bit his thumb and summoned the boss snake, Nagi. (A/N: nag-eye)

Hinata smirked, not wanting to be left out, and bit her thumb as well, summoning the boss Jaguar, Mira. The said Shinobi each stood on top of the head of their summons, waiting for the other to make the first move. Mira was getting antsy, she always loved sparring with Nagi. And Nagi was just itching to get at Mira, hissing and bobbing her head.

"Okay Mira! Let's show em what we got!" Hinata said, making the first move like always. She didn't come at Sasuke with the intent to kill, but she definitely charged forward with the intent to hurt physically. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and smirked, predicting Hinata's first move. He easy blocked it, grabbing the staff part of her scythe, only to have his hand be burned from the white glow that emitted from it. **'Shit, I forgot that the light will burn me. I'll just have to dodge for now.' **Hinata laughed when Sasuke pulled his hand away with a lightning reflex, holding in a yelp from the burning he was surely feeling in his hand.

Sasuke kept dodging Hinata's advances, avoiding the swings of her scythe. However, it was time to change up the roles, and he quickly fired a Jutsu at her. His sword was suddenly overcome with lightning, as he swung it toward her scythe. If he could distract her enough, then he could send a snake out of his arm for the win.

Hinata, switching the change in fences, started to shoot chakra blades from her hands, manipulating them into thin strands, capable of cutting anything withing a 500 ft. radius. She hastily jumped into the air, Scythe seeming to disappear into thin air, as she flipped into an upside down position, her arms spinning rapidly to form a shield of sorts, yet at the same time, destroy anything that came close. "Shuggo Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou!" Hinata called, grinning to herself when the light around her started to brighten.

Sasuke, sensing this coming, grinned as he moved his wings in front of him, like a wall. Shooting a Chidori out of his arm, he aimed for Hinata's blind spot.

Unbeknownst to them, however, spectators had started to gather, staring in wonder at the two blurs of purple and white. Fighting each other, slowly letting out massive amounts of chakra. But it wasn't normal chakra, it was sinister, yet holy. It was purple (Sasuke) and White (Hinata) and their whole bodies were covered in tattoos.

The Rookies had never seen anything like it. And they were immediately on the defensive, just in case the two blurs tried anything at them. They stared in wonder at the two, just watching. Who in the hell were these people anyway?

"Hey! What the fuck do you think you doing!" Naruto called, trying to get their attention. Said blurs suddenly halted and dropped to the ground, standing facing each other in defensive positions. It was like they were communicating through their eyes. Suddenly the purple being nodded and they both turned facing the crowd.

Slowly their regular forms came back, the tattoos shrinking across their skin, the glow fading, and the chakra receding. Until two very familiar beings were now showing, staring at their old comrads.

"Tch. Still loud as ever, eh dope?" Sasuke said, smirking when Naruto's face contorted into shock. But then he frowned. It was only the next voice that spoke that sent Sasuke wheeling.

"Sasuke?" Sakura Haruno called uncertainly, her mind reeling with thoughts and questions. Sasuke could never forget that soft voice. It had haunted his ears for six years, her begging, pleading voice for him to stay.

He was taken aback by how much more mature and grown up she looked. No longer was she that little twelve year old useless fan girl, he noted, but was now a woman. Her hair was still short, much like he remembered, with her red colored hitiate as her headband. She wore a red shirt with the Haruno circle and a grey looking skirt with black shorts underneath, and black ninja boots. She had black gloves on her hands, and bandages around her elbows. He noticed her eyes, those green eyes that he purposely avoids, because he knows if he looks into those eyes, his resolve will fade. And he'll fall for her.

"Sakura." He replied, masking his surprise and hiding his disdain at the loss of 'Kun' to his name with his stoic exterior. Sakura. He knew that he would have to face her eventually, it was just a matter of not letting himself fall for her anymore than he already had once.

"What the hell is going on?" Ino huffed folding her arms and harrumphing. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, taking out a cigarette and smoking it. "What a drag." he said, his pineapple hair blowing lightly in the breeze.

He hadn't really changed much, except he looked older, and seemed to have picked up the smoking habit from his late Sensei, Asuma. His chuunin jacket was still the same and the black ninja pants that had wraps on his ankles and his black ninja sandals contrasted well.

And his teammate Ino had definitely matured, flaunting it the most out of all the Rookies. Her hair had grown longer, and was tied in a pony tail like always, with one long bang framing her face, and she had a short, purple sleeveless vest that stopped just below her chest, and a short purple skirt with a slit down the middle showing a black underskirt and fishnets on her upper thighs, knees, and elbows. She looked good though, he had to give her that.

Hinata started getting annoyed with the growing tension, so she spoke first. "Well clearly, Ino-chan, were back in Konoha." TenTen sniggered at this new Hinata. What a smart ass she had turned out to be.

"What makes you think its going to be so easy to be welcomed back?" Kiba spoke sharply, not all to happy with his ex-teammate Hinata. She didn't even say goodbye. She gave no warning, and she left just like that. She abandoned the team when they needed her. He needed her. They and Team 7 had searched and searched, always coming either close to finding them or just missing their trail completely. Kurenai-Sensei was a wreck, it was like she had lost her own daughter.

With the loss of Hinata and Sasuke, it left Team's 7 and 8 with only two members per team, so the Hokage decided to merge the two together in one mass team with two Sensei's. It was a little unorthodox, but it actually came to turn out pretty well, as they all learned to adapt and get along with each other. Kiba and Shino had been, as always, the reconnaissance part of the team and Sakura was a field medic so she could not only heal but defend herself as well, and Naruto was the powerhouse, he provided most of the brute strength and will of fire.

"Kiba-kun..." Hinata started to say but was silenced by Sakura's interruption. "You shouldn't have come back Sasuke. We've all changed a lot. Did you really think that you could come back here and everything would be fine? Well its not. So don't act like its going to be fine." Sakura crossed her arms, speaking sharply, with a none to happy facial expression. Why did Sasuke come back? He shouldn't have. He should have stayed a missing nin because then Sakura wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt again. About being _weak_ and _vulnerable_ like she was in her Genin days.

Sakura was mad at the fact that her heart still fluttered like a butterfly in his presence. After she had vowed to grow stronger. Vowed to become strong and get over Sasuke. He just comes waltzing right back into the village after all these years and its like he knows he can still make her swoon and revert back to her fan girl days. She didn't like the feeling.

"Sakura-chan, Kiba-kun. Will you let us explain?" Hinata was growing extremely irritated pinching the bridge of her nose while she said this. She noticed that, surprisingly, Naruto was remaining quiet. There Sasuke was, standing right in front of him, and he was being quiet. Hinata, despite leaving the village, had never lost her feelings for Naruto. She still loved him very very much, and while she may have had the shyness beat out of her by her Sensei, just his presence alone still made her insides melt.

He had clearly matured. His hair had grown longer, about shoulder length, and his face more sharp and defined, having lost the baby fat he once had. His blue eyes were still as heart stopping as ever, holding so much emotion. It was the gateway to his soul. At least Hinata thought so anyway. His clothes had changed, no longer wearing the bright orange jumpsuit, but instead opted for a much more subtle outfit.

He had on a black long sleeved vest, with white ninja pants that were wrapped at the bottom and black ninja sandals. He had on a white jacket with red flames coming up along the bottom, and he had writing down the back that said Fox (A/N: I know its cliche and overdone but oh well =p) with a green tiny rope tied around his right upper arm that had what looked to be a seal attached to it.

His headband had changed as well, no longer the original blue one, but it was a black forehead protector with two long tails in the back coming down to just past his neck. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he was the fourth's double, minus the whiskers of course.

She couldn't deny he looked positively sexy. But, besides that fact, he really was unusually quiet. It was kinda making her worried because the Naruto she remembered was loud, boisterous, and obnoxious (some of the things she had found endearing about him). She kept shifting her pupil-less eyes from Sakura to Kiba, then Naruto, and back to Sakura.

"I would have expected turning on the village from Sasuke, but, you Hinata-chan...I would have never guessed." Naruto finally spoke, his eyes downcast. They had never seen him so serious.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata spoke in a whisper. It's really all she could do, because, either way she put it, they had left. Plain and Simple. And she wasn't so sure she could bare to meet his ocean blue eyes. Those eyes that can see right into her very soul. And those eyes that held so much hurt.

* * *

**Finished with chapter one! I decided to cut it off there because the Chapter was getting really long and draggy. There will be a tiny flashback next chapter, and everyone will get their input, feelings, and say in the return of Sasuke and Hinata. And Naruto will be, well, un-Naruto like towards Hinata at first, but no worries NaruxHina fans it won't be that way for too too long. And if you have any questions, leave them in a review and I will answer them next Chappie! It's good to be back. :D**


	2. Not So Welcomed Back!

_That's The Trouble With Love  
_

_Chapter 2  
_

_By: iNaji  
_

_"It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend." -William Blake_

* * *

The look in his eyes was heart breaking, and she just wanted to curl up into herself.

"I, I had to leave. You see, at the time, I was a weak little twelve year old Genin. My family didn't find me even worth looking at, and I wasn't going anywhere. So I left with Sasuke, and now I'm quite strong." Hinata said awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. There really was no good way of explaining it without looking like the bad guy. Leaving the village without telling someone is leaving the village.

"Exactly. You can't explain. You left plain and simple. And with Sasuke of all people." Naruto said, suddenly feeling a bout of jealousy. _**'What's so great about Sasuke-teme? Why did you have to leave with him******__? _Why couldn't you stay and get stronger with me, Hinata-chan...' he bowed his head as he thought this, not wanting to gaze upon the beautiful maiden in front of him. It hurt to much.

"I had no choice Naruto. I was powerless, I wouldn't have made it on my own." Hinata was getting very uncomfortable. Her heart was breaking as Naruto bowed his head, not looking at her. She could handle never having Naruto return her feelings, but she couldn't handle him hating her. That, to her, was a fate worse than death.

"Did you get a punishment from Tsunade?" Choji asked with curiosity, breaking the tension and munching on his bag of chips. He didn't hate Sasuke or Hinata, he was of a kind nature, and didn't seem to have any problem with them coming back. Granted he was never really close to the Uchiha but he did like Hinata's gentle and caring nature. She was kind of like Choji in that sense, except she wasn't a giant but in fact quite tiny.

"Hn. We did not. I suppose we have our Sensei's to thank for that." Sasuke said, his calm and stoic exterior doubled under the pressure of all the Rookies.

Judging by the looks and mannerisms of the people surrounding Hinata and himself, Sasuke could see that Kiba, Sakura, Neji, and Naruto seemed to be the only ones who were truly upset by their return. The others seemed to be neutral or just simply didn't care.

"Yosh! Your youthfulness is still strong!" Lee said as he went up and hugged Hinata. Despite what people thought, Hinata and Rock Lee were once really close. And knowing Lee, he wouldn't of let that bond go. The one, really, that Hinata wasn't to keen on facing, was Neji. And if the glare he was giving her was any indication of the impending ass whooping, then she definitely wanted to hide away.

"Well, sorry to cut this little reunion short, but we have a mission. Troublesome. But welcome back Hinata, Sasuke." Shikamaru said as he walked away with Choji ad Ino in tow. If anyone was the least caring, it was Shikamaru. To be honest he was kind of glad to have his old comrades back, despite the treatment they may receive from the others.

"Well, Lee and I have some one on one training with Guy-Sensei today so we must bid you farewell. Welcome back!" TenTen smiled, adjusting her weapons pouch and motioning for Lee to follow her away from the impending fight that was about to happen. The tension was suffocating.

Kiba, Shino, Neji, Naruto, and Sakura were all facing Hinata and Sasuke, who seemed to shrink back into themselves under their spiteful stares. Naruto had his fists clenched at his sides, looking like he was debating whether or not to punch Sasuke. He suddenly remembered something he didn't want to.

* * *

FLASHBACK

_A mop of blonde hair could be seen walking into Ichiraku ramen, a smile the size of the moon plastered onto his face, and his signature wallet Gamma-Chan was filled with his pay from his last mission. He hadn't had Ichiraku in a week so he was just dying to get some of those delicious noodles. _

_He sat down at the table, Ayame greeting him and making ideal chat while taking his usual order, 4 bowls of beef and miso ramen. Unfortunately before he could even have the chance to taste the deliciousness of his precious ramen Sakura came bursting through the flaps hanging from Ichiraku in tears.  
_

_"Naruto! Sasuke, Sasuke left! I tried to stop him last night, but he knocked me out. Tsunade wants us all immediately." Naruto's fists clenched and his smile quickly faded. Sasuke left? How could he do that to Sakura-chan...to him. It was a stab to the heart and no other words needed to be said as Naruto dashed out of the restaurant, Ramen all but forgotten, and his mind solely focused on the Sasuke issue. _

_The Hokage office had never seemed so far away, it seemed to Naruto, feeling like time was slowing him down, and he was progressing backwards, not forwards. He needed his legs to go faster, be he was already running at his top speed for a mere 12 year old.  
_

_They finally made it to the Hokage building, manners all but forgotten as Naruto burst through the door panting. He noticed everyone was already there, and he also noticed that someone, whom he had grown very fond of, was not present. That worried the young ninja, because she was almost always with Team 8. Kiba and Shino looked a little worse for ware though, he did notice. Where was Hinata-Chan?  
_

_"Late last night, Uchiha Sasuke left the village for power. However, what we didn't know until this morning was that Hyuga Hinata has accompanied Sasuke as well, also leaving the village. The reasons, at this time are still unknown to us, but we did send out several ANBU to look for them, however, nothing has turned up yet. I've gathered you all here because you all have a joint mission. You are to try and track down Hinata and Sasuke. Use whatever means you can, be smart, and be safe. Dismissed." Tsunade called curtly. This meant more paperwork, ugh.  
_

_Naruto was stunned into silence. Not only had Sasuke, his best friend and brother left, but Hinata as well? His Hinata-chan, left? Not that Naruto realized it, but he really had fallen in love with the girl who was always there for him, he just didn't know he did. And how could he have. Having been raised with no parents, and shunned by the villagers, there was no one there to truly teach him what love is. But Hinata had showed him kindness. She was the first of his age to show him something that wasn't hate.  
_

_"Baa-chan, your joking right?" Naruto said after everyone filed out. Hinata wasn't gone. This was some sick joke. "I'm afraid not brat. They've both left...but...when they do come back they are gonna have some explaining to do. You better get a move on Naruto. The quicker your all dispatched the better." Naruto nodded and walked away, unfeeling. He was numb and in shock. Why did Sasuke leave? And why did Hinata join him?  
_

_~Flashback~ (A/N: A flashback withing a flashback! xD Can someone say Inception?)  
_

___Naruto sat alone in his apartment tonight. He wouldn't dare to step outside, for today was October 8th, his twelfth birthday and it was also the anniversary of the Kyuubi's attack on this day, it was the only day you wouldn't see the blonde boy in the village because if he was seen he would be harassed and beaten to within an inch of his life by the civilians.  
_

___He sat on his couch, a steaming cup of ramen in his right hand and chopsticks in his left. His mind seemed to be recalling all of the times in his life where a certain white eyed Hyuga was present. He didn't know why he was suddenly dwelling on this, but he didn't mind it as long as it temporarily distracted him from the fact he was alone on his own birthday.  
_

_"Gambatte N-Naruto-kun."  
_

_"Let's do our best, N-Naruto-kun."  
_

_"You're a p-proud failure! That's what I a-a-admire about you, y-you never give up, and y-you always s-s-stand back up no m-matter how many t-t-times your knocked d-down."  
_

_He slurped up his noodles with each phrase echoing through his mind. Now that he really though about it, he couldn't ever recall a time when the shy girl ever made fun of him. In fact, his only memories of her were of her encouragement and support of him.  
_

_After he contemplated this for awhile, he came to the conclusion that she was one of his most precious people. And he would protect her no matter what.  
_

_~flashback end~  
_

___With a heavy heart he slowly walked back to his apartment to pack. On his way it had started to rain, but he was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't care. The sky was crying too, because the Great village of Konoha lost two Shinobi that day.  
_

___He also lost two of his most precious people that day as well.  
_

* * *

Sakura was expressionless, but Sasuke could see the hurt, shock, betrayal, and anger in her eyes. He really couldn't look her in the eyes though, he would feel so guilty for hurting her. She was truly the only girl Sasuke worried over, and that scared him to death. Yes he worried for Hinata sometimes but he knew she could take care of herself.

But Sakura. Sakura was a different story to Sasuke because Sakura is his love. His true love. He just can't show her how much he loves her. Everything he's ever loved has been taken away from him, and he can't afford to love Sakura. Not this time around. Because he'd surely die if she was taken away from him.

Neji finally got his turn to speak up.

"Uncle is most un-pleased with you, Hinata. I can't stop what's already past, but I can say I'm not at all happy with you at the moment either. Heed this warning, once uncle hears of your return, he will send people after you, and he wants this seal placed," Neji pointed to his forehead, "onto your head." Neji said, pointing back to her.

Ever since Naruto had changed him for the better, he had never liked to be mean or indifferent to Hinata. But, old habits die hard. She left though, and that's not right, especially as an un-caged Hyuga. Not to mention that, no one deserved the caged bird seal.

Hinata sighed in annoyance at the mention of her father. That ingrate. "Don't worry Neji-onii-san, I can take the old bat. I'm stronger now, and he doesn't scare me. I refuse to let myself be branded with the seal. And I WILL find a way to remove it and banish it. But thank you for the warning. I'll keep my summons on guard." Neji's eyes widened considerably at this new Hinata. She was a sassy woman who wouldn't take people's shit anymore, especially the clans.

Slap. That was all that could be heard as Sakura's palm connected with Hinata's cheek. Hinata was absolutely in shock, and to be quite frank, that fucking hurt! Sakura looked into the Hyuga's eyes, a look of betrayal on her face. Hinata was never particularly close with Sakura so she couldn't really understand why she had slapped her. And nobody else expected it either as they were all just as shocked.

"Traitor. You knew, you knew my feelings. Don't expect me to forgive you so easily. Don't expect me to be nice." Sakura was huffing now. Hinata got to be with him all these years. She was jealous of the bond she had with Sasuke. Why couldn't Sasuke just allow her to have a bond with him, too?

Kiba had had just about enough of this, and decided to slowly move away from the group unnoticed and go back to his home. He needed time to think, and he usually played with the new born pups when he was upset.

"The past cannot be changed." Sasuke said, his annoyance flaring a bit. He was also trying to get a rise out of Naruto, who at this time, still remained quiet.

Naruto finally burst.

"The hell it can't, Sasuke-Teme! You betrayed us. You hurt Sakura and myself, and you let down your village. We searched for years, and nearly died countless times. And you expect us to just "Get over it because the past cannot be changed?" You may be my best friend, but you are not my brother. You betrayed that title." Naruto said coldly, his words piercing. Naruto didn't really mean that though, he was just so hurt and angry that he couldn't find it in himself to retract his statement.

"There's nothing more to say. Their opinions are their own." Sasuke had a solemn look on his face to others, but a hurt look to Hinata. Hinata could read him like a book. She nodded, and gazed longingly at Naruto. He turned his head away and looked down to the floor. Hinata's heart broke, but she knew this was for the best. So with a motion of her hand, her and Sasuke vanished in a swirl of water and lightning.

"N-Naruto. Sasuke and Hinata, they, they..." Sakura said, breaking down and flying into Naruto's arms. She was hurt and angry. How could Hinata do that to her, when she knew that she loved Sasuke with all her heart and soul.

Naruto ran soothing circles over Sakura's back. Countless years of consoling the distraught teen had given him lots of practice and it wasn't long before she quieted down. No matter how many walls she put up around her heart, he always managed to tear them down in an instant.

"I know, Sakura. I know." Naruto said, looking to the sky, as if searching for an answer. He found none, of course. Seeing them both again was emotional and he just wanted to pummel something to dust.

* * *

"Sasuke slow down damnit!" Hinata said, chasing after the man. As soon as they had poofed away he ran off into the woods. She knew him well, and knew that he was pretty hurt. She could guess that he probably went to let out his frustration, but if there was one thing that Hinata had learned, is that Sasuke truly did have a soft side buried deep deep down, and there has only ever been two people capable of bringing forth that side of him. Those people being Naruto and Sakura.

"Damnit Hinata let me be!" Sasuke called back, sending a fireball her way, which she easily dodged, seeing as it wasn't meant to do damage. She had only ever seen Sasuke this upset once, and that was when he lost a dear friend that had grown on him in his travels.

He was a little boy named Katsu. Katsu-Chan was a cute little five year old who had taken a liking to Sasuke, calling him big brother and begging him to teach him how to throw Kunai and Shuriken. Sasuke was very annoyed with the boy at first, always clinging to his leg, but had eventually softened towards him, and had allowed himself to become attached. In a sense, he was fulfilling the role Itachi once held, in memory of his own fucked up childhood, with the exception that he wasn't going to slaughter the boys family.

But their had been a raid. It was one that came completely from left field and it was headed by a group of rouge ninja. The only one that really posed a threat was Bane, the leader. Hinata and himself were able to save most of the small villages citizens, but, Sasuke had been weak because he couldn't protect Katsu-Chan from Bane. Sasuke blamed himself for Katsu-Chan's death. If only he had been smarter, acted faster, and was stronger, then maybe Katsu-Chan would still be alive.

He really was cursed, everything he loved or was dear to him seemed to perish at some point in his life. He considered it the Uchiha curse, and he wasn't so sure it could ever be broken.

"Sasuke! You didn't think they wouldn't be mad did you? I can't blame them so please stop and LISTEN TO ME DAMNIT!" Hinata screamed, swinging her scythe that she had summoned at him. He threw a glance behind him and saw her face, he knew she was serious and that she could and would hurt him. He stopped on a random tree branch and waited for Hinata to catch up.

"Thank you. Look Sasuke, think about it. They have a right to feel that way, we both left without any warning. And as for Sakura slapping me, think, me and you were together for six years, no word to anyone we left, and what else are they to think? They don't know we're siblings. We ABANDONED them. It won't be easy to get into their good graces again, but, I just...even I can't get over the way Naruto-kun looked at me. Like the traitor I am." Sasuke looked at Hinata, taking in her words.

She was right of course, always being the sensible one, but it still hurt. He couldn't stand to see Sakura act and feel that way, and when she looked at him with such hate. He couldn't stand it. Sakura truly was his one soft spot. His weakness.

"Your right, Hinata." Sasuke sighed and slid his hand down his face. He was at a loss.

"Look, they obviously voiced their disdain, and the only thing we can do is get back into their graces. I don't know how, but, maybe we can get Tsunade-Sama to send us on a mission, the four of us." Sasuke nodded at the thought, silently thanking Kami for Hinata's brilliance sometimes.

"Right. But, I really need to get back to the Uchiha compound. Its got to get cleaned out." Hinata nodded in understanding.

"And I must admit despite all the hate, I'm curious as to where Tsunade-sama rented out my apartment. I can only wonder what the hell she has pulled up her sleeve." Hinata said, grinning. Sasuke bid Hinata a goodbye and sped off towards the Uchiha district, a place he hadn't stepped foot in in six years.

Hinata took off in the opposite direction, mentally remembering the new address Tsunade had given her, and clutching her key in her hand, she wondered what awaited her.

* * *

"So down to the real business now. You say that Danzo is in cahoots with Madara and this masked Akatsuki man named Tobi? But, Madara was thought to be dead, how is he still alive?" Tsunade questioned, somewhat startled at this new news.

Akatsuki had been killed off long ago, and there were only two remaining members left. It wasn't so much of the two Akatsuki that scared her, it was the fact that Danzo had been doing dirty dealings. That old war hawk, he's wanted control of Konoha for ages, planning to use Naruto as a weapon for war, and if he has allies such as Madara and this mysterious masked man, it could spell trouble for Konoha.

"Well that's the thing, we suspect Madara is being held here by the Edo Tensei jutsu, however as far as I know, the only Shinobi ever to use that jutsu was Orochimaru. And the only way we can kill Madara is if we find the person who cast the Edo Tenshi. But we know that Orochimaru is dead, Sasuke killed the bastard snake himself. Which leads me to believe that either this Tobi is the originator, or there is somebody hiding in the shadows. If it is someone in the shadows they won't show themselves, and we have no way of finding who it is." Tsunade furrowed her brows at this new information Harumi had just spilled to her. If she didn't get a handle on this quick, it could be bad.

"I see. Anything else?" Sou and Harumi spared a quick glance to each other, silently communicating. Sou's face suddenly turned grim.

"They aren't just after Naruto for the Kyuubi. They want Hinata and Sasuke as well. We believe it's because they both have bloodlines that are very valuable to both Madara and Danzo." Tsunade sighed and got herself a bottle of sake. Could this day get anymore stressful?

"Alright. I'll inform my strategist and tactics team right away. I want you both to gather information. Find out anything and everything you can. Report back to me in six months. Oh, and, welcome back." Tsunade said warmly as the two nodded and took off on their assignment. Oh Tsunade certainly was a sneaky girl, purposely sending those two out to intercept Hinata and Sasuke as their Sensei's when they were 12 years old. It was the only way she could ensure their safety, and they hadn't suspected a thing.

"Shizune! Send for Shikamaru Nara ASAP, and also...send for Temari, we're going to need Suna's help." Tsunade said, motioning to Shizune. Shizune nodded and left out the door.

Today was stressful, to say the least.

* * *

Hinata stared slack jawed as she came to a stop in front of her new apartment building. There was no way this was real, because if she remembered correctly this was Naruto's apartment complex. This was where Naruto lived. THIS WAS WHERE NARUTO LIVED! _**Is Tsunade-sama on crack?!'**_Hinata thought, snapping her jaw up and composing herself.

She could do this. She could and would do this. And now that she thought about it maybe it wouldn't be so bad, because it would give her more opportunities to win her Naruto-kun back.

She held her head high, walking swiftly up the steps of the old building. Naruto's apartment was right next to her's (she would be getting payback on Tsunade-sama for this) and inserted the key into the dead bolt. With a soft click she felt the door unlock and she pushed it open. It seemed the ANBU had successfully retrieved all her belongings, depositing the boxes in the middle of the living room.

She glanced around the apartment, it was small, but not all that unbearable. It was actually a welcoming change from the Hyuga compound, which was always stuffy, boring, and downright uptight. She inwardly grinned, anxious to start unpacking. For once she could live any way she wanted to, and she would first start by getting rid of the horrid beige that lined the walls of the apartment.

She opened up the first box she was able to grab, grinning as she saw her old clothes. She gingerly took them out of the box and chuckled to herself. _**'**__**Oh dear, it seems I've outgrown my old Gennin clothes. Poop, now I have to go shopping, and that means showing myself. But, maybe I could still salvage a few articles of clothing**** first.'**_

Hinata sifted through the two boxes containing her clothes, bummed to see that she could only manage to salvage a few mesh tops and old wraps, as well as an old pair of lavender sweatpants she used to wear on her lazy days.

* * *

Sasuke groaned as he opened the cupboards of the kitchen. All of them were completely empty, and, he was STARVING! He should have gone grocery shopping before coming home.

With a sigh he plopped himself onto his couch, having already unpacked (he didn't have much to begin with) and having tidied up the part he was actually using (which was only the main compound), he let his thought's wander to...Sakura...begrudgingly.

He mentally cursed his mind, annoyed with it's wanderings. He couldn't shake the feeling he had today, when he saw that look in her eyes. He wasn't supposed to be bothered by it. In fact, he shouldn't even be thinking about it, but alas he was. He cursed her. No matter what her pink hair always invaded his thought's and subconsciously his dream's at nighttime. It irked him to no end.

Why did she always have to be in his thought's? If anyone ever got their hands on her, it would be his fault. He had to stay away from her, but damnit she made it so hard for him to. But he wouldn't fail, he definitely wouldn't fail. He'd protect her, even if he had to sacrifice his love, he would, if it meant she could still wake up every morning with a beating heart it was good enough for him.

Even after all this time, he was powerless against her, and he fucking hated it. With a sigh he leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes, kicking his feet up onto his old coffee table. He let his muscles loosen as he let his chakra freely flow through him, a healing and relaxation technique he had learned from Katsu's mom.

He wouldn't ever let anyone know or show it, but he missed Katsu dearly, feeling like he lost a brother again and in a sense he did. They may not have been blood related, but Sasuke would have gladly died for the boy. Believe it or not he actually had a soft side, and was VERY good with young kids. He actually liked them too when they weren't being annoyingly loud. He wouldn't dare let anyone know that. Ever. It was his only positive secret.

The healing chakra coursed through him, and he could feel his muscles and mental strain relent some. He gave a content sigh and drifted off into a light nap, moving from a sitting position to a lying one. Pretty soon he felt the grasp of sleep, and allowed himself to sink into the recesses of his mind, the only time he could every truly achieve what he wanted.

Sakura.

* * *

A menacing figure stood in the shadows of the cave, the only light illuminating his feature's was a lone candle hung upon the wall. His red eye's gleamed in the dark, focusing on the only other inhabitant of the cave.

"It seems that Hinata and Sasuke have landed in Konoha. Danzo has informed me that the Uchiha also hold's someone very dear to him, it seems. She's a medic there, trained by Tsunade herself. We believe it's his one weak spot." Madara grinned, his smile crooked with corruption.

"Hmm, this is quite interesting. We wait. We wait until they grow close. Then, then we can use the boy's growing affection for her against him to capture him. As for the Hyuga, I'm not to worried about her," at this he turned his head towards his summons, "Dar, gather me Kabuto. We will get the Hyuga girl, and I know just the guy to do it." Dar nodded, exiting the cave hastily.

Madara grinned sickly, after years of patient planning and waiting, his dreams were coming to fruition. He couldn't help but let out a laugh. It would be quite interesting to see what kind of fight Sasuke would put up against him.

He knew Sasuke would loose, but playing never hurt anybody, right?

_**'Watch out, Uchiha. I'm going to rip everything from you and restore this world from its treachery. Live well for now, for you won't have the opportunity to in the future,' **_

* * *

**And that's the end of Chapter two. What do you think so far? Love it? Hate it? let me know!  
**

**Also I know things seem slow now, and there is some OOC, but I PROMISE things will pick up soon and the OOCness will lesson. But the way I have my story set up this must be done.  
**

**Till next time! Review!  
**

**Ja :3**


	3. Needles Are A Ninja's Worst Enemy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...SADLY...

**Well here's chapter 3! **

**Is this story any good? It doesn't seem to get many reviews. If it isn't let me know and I'll improve it. I'm open to suggestions, critiques, idea's, any future happenings you'd like to see, etc! Just let me know in a PM or review.  
**

**Also there seems to be a little confusion. Some of you may be thinking why didn't Sasuke take Sakura with him? Why did he knock her out and then take Hinata? Well that's because he cares for Sakura and he can't take her with him, because she could get hurt, and he couldn't bare to see her hurt. So he knew she would be safe here. And he decided to let Hinata come along because at the time he barely knew the girl and wouldn't have cared if she got hurt.  
**

**Anyway, Enjoy!**

* * *

_That's The Trouble With Love  
_

_Chapter 3  
_

_By: iNaji  
_

_"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."-Franklin D. Roosevelt  
_

* * *

Green eyes fluttered open, and a pale hand came to wipe the sleep from her eyes. She internally groaned, wishing it could be dark for a few more hours. All she wanted to do was sleep. Especially after the events that took place a couple days ago.

She pulled back her blankets and sat up on her bed, letting the cool morning air envelop her body, causing goosebumps to arise on her skin. She quickly slipped a jacket over her white tank top, and slipped her tiny feet into fuzzy green slippers before walking into the bathroom to take care of her morning appearance.

After her hot shower she went down the steps to her kitchen and prepared herself some honey toast and scrambled eggs. It was one of her favorite breakfast dishes. And ya know what? She deserved her favorite breakfast once in awhile.

After munching down the food, she drank her morning coffee and grabbed her ninja gear, pocketed her apartment keys, and walked out the door towards the hospital. Her second favorite place in the world, her first being Team 7's training field.

Shortly after training under Tsunade, it didn't take long for Sakura to realize that she had a natural talent for medical jutsu. Her above average chakra control and intelligence had allowed her to become a quick learner, and Tsunade had no doubt in her mind that her apprentice had surpassed her. Being far more brilliant than she ever was. But she didn't mind, she was old believe it or not, and it was time for the new generation to start taking over.

"Good morning Sakura-san!" "Good morning Sakura!" "How are you, Sakura-san?" Sakura smiled at the civilians that greeted her as she walked through the village. She was very well liked and respected, and being the apprentice of the Hokage, she was held in high standing. She tried to be nice and fair to everyone, and her whole presence could lighten up your day.

It wasn't all that uncommon to see fan boys come up to Sakura either. She usually rolled her eyes at them, declining their advances, as they were such a nuisance. She could kind of sympathize now with Sasuke and his fan girl problem.

Sasuke. The name left a bitter taste on her lips, as just the thought of him caused her to knit her brows together, still clearly very hurt. Yesterday was a huge shock to her, suddenly seeing her old teammate again after six years.

After all this time, countless tears, and promising herself she was over him, it seemed like all her hard work had crashed and burned the instant he showed up again. Looking as tall, dark, and handsome as he always had to her. She was mad at herself for still getting those butterflies in her stomach like she used to as a Gennin and a skip of her heart when their eyes connected, forcing her to look away.

It was infuriating because she was hurt and angry. She felt betrayed, and she isn't supposed to let him wiggle his way back in so easily. She wasn't going to of course, but that didn't make it any easier in the least.

She wanted to make him suffer. To make him feel what she felt. She wanted to see him in agony.

With a shake of her head to rid herself of those thoughts she walked into the hospital where she instantly felt at ease. She felt like she belonged here, like she was helpful, needed, and important. And she was, but to be the best medic in the hospital it felt good.

She looked up to see Shizune coming towards her. She smiled and waved at her Shishou's right hand woman. Who was also a good friend to Sakura.

"Ahh Sakura-Chan! Just the woman I wanted to see. Tsunade-sama asked me to give you this, she said that you were the only one who could handle this appointment." Sakura's eyebrows raised at that, knowing that it was rare for Tsunade to just assign her a solo case. Normally if it was complex she would also have Shizune at her side to help.

"Sure, Shizune-Chan. Let me see the file..."

* * *

Sasuke hated the doctors office. He hated checkups. They were a nuisance and the nurses always tried to come on to him (which he denied the advances of every time) and he had to get his shots. And if there is one thing that Sasuke Uchiha hated more than anything, it was needles.

He shuddered at the thought. They were so...metallic...and, and pointy...they scared him. Which seeing as he was a ninja who faced life or death situations every day, shouldn't.

He wouldn't ever let anyone know of course, he had his pride you know, and if anyone did find out they would never let it go. CoughNautoCough.

Anyway, the reason why he was even here in the first place is because Tsunade _demanded _ that he be checked up immediately, since his last checkup officially at Konoha Hospital was when he was twelve. Now 18, the records were a little out of date.

He walked with his hands in his pockets, ignoring the looks and whispers he was receiving. He was a missing nin a couple days ago after all. And he knew he would be hated and talked about for quite sometime.

It had been two days since his and Hinata's return, and he had yet to get Sakura and Naruto to even speak civilly to him. They definitely iced him out, which hurt him more than he cared to admit. They were his teammates after all.

He could remember the first day he walked to their training field to train with them, the air was tense and awkward, each not really knowing what to say. And Kakashi was late as always, which didn't help the matter.

Sakura had also surprised him that day with how much stronger she had truly gotten. She nearly scared him half to death too when she basically broke up the whole training ground in one punch. He wasn't expecting that, and it definitely caught him off guard. No matter, she was still considerably weak compared to him, but she had mildly impressed him.

She wasn't the weak fan girl he once knew, but a well distinguished woman. Who, he had no doubt could kick anyone's ass to mars and back if she wanted to.

He finally arrived at the hospital, already dreading the next hour of hell, and checked in at the reception desk. The receptionist told him to be seated and that a nurse would escort him to the exam room. He nodded thankfully and sat down in one of the waiting room chairs, leaning his head back against the wall, and just closing his eyes to relax for a moment. He was suddenly jolted from the code blue alarms going off, signaling someone was going into cardiac arrest.

God he really hated this place.

* * *

Hinata peaked out the peephole in the door of her apartment, sighing in relief when she discovered that Naruto was nowhere in sight outside. Somehow she had managed to not run into him the past two days, positive that he didn't know she was living next to him. He couldn't know until she could get Naruto okay with her again.

Ever since the day of their return, all Hinata could think about was Naruto. He was on her mind 24/7, plaguing her thoughts, dreams, and fantasies. Which wasn't anything new, but more so than usual.

To be honest, she wasn't expecting such a harsh reaction from them all. Sure, she knew they would be angry and hurt, but, to completely ignore her or say as little to her as possible?

She was at a loss.

Hinata turned the knob of her apartment door, and slowly pulled it open, peaking her head out to look to her right and left, seeing no sign of Naruto. She hurriedly shut the door behind her, and started to jump from rooftop to rooftop. She was on a mission to buy more clothes today, seeing as she had barely any that fit her.

And she needed to pay her good old father a visit. It was time to take care of things once and for all. Now that she had grown stronger, she felt confident she could show her dad just how much he underestimated her.

She smiled. Let the games begin.

* * *

Naruto heaved in and out, having just slammed his Rasengan into the tree in front of him. He trained 24/7. It was one the one time he was truly happy, not a care in the world. Not having to deal with the civilians hesitant attitudes towards him (no longer filled with hate, but not quite sure) and he didn't have to worry about enemies. He could just focus solely on himself.

That and if he didn't then he'd probably kick the crap out of Sasuke, giving him what he deserves. After nearly killing him and Sakura multiple times, he deserved a good kick in the ass.

And then there was Hinata. _HIS _Hinata-chan, who had gone off with Sasuke for six years doing god knows what. He was hurt. Why did she have to leave? Why couldn't they get stronger together? Was he not good enough?

All his life from the academy onward he was always in competition with Sasuke. Naruto considered him his rival, best friend, and brother. What ever Sasuke did Naruto HAD to do better. He had to show that no for good Uchiha that he wasn't the only strong Shinobi. He may have been dead last, but that didn't mean he wasn't strong.

And then there was Sakura. Naruto used to have a crush on Sakura in his early Gennin days but had long since abandoned that when she came crying to him to bring Sasuke back to the village. He knew then and there that he'd never have a chance with her. At first he was jealous of Sasuke, too, because he got Sakura's attention without even trying, and it was always about Sasuke-kun. But eventually he had grown sisterly feelings for her, and would do whatever he could to protect her.

Because he had developed a sisterly bond with Sakura, it allowed him to open his eyes to others around him. Mainly Hinata. When he really thought about it, she was always nice to him. She never hit him, called him names, or discouraged him. She did everything she could to cheer him on, even giving him the courage to fight Neji in the Chuunin exams.

He had come to grow fond of her, that cute blush she always had, and her habit of tapping her fingers together when she was nervous. He was always looking for her in the crowd, wanting to talk to her.

And then she had left. When he had heard the news his heart had stopped. And then she went with Sasuke, and that completely broke him. How could she just leave? How could sweet little Hinata leave the village? Leave him?

He was hurt.

And then, after six long years, there she was in front of him again, looking more beautiful than ever. He also noted that she had matured in all the right places, having curves that most women would die for, and tried very hard to hide his blush.

Seeing her again, it opened up his old wounds, and he couldn't bare to look at her because she was tearing him apart just by standing there. He wanted to hug her and yell at her at the same time. He wanted to know why she left with Sasuke.

With another grunt he formed a Rasengan in his hand and blasted another tree. He didn't like being mad at people, especially those he cared for, but he didn't know if he could be so forgiving either just yet.

Maybe some more training would help.

Sakura stared slack jawed at the file, growing extremely angry. The first words she saw were Sasuke Uchiha. She wanted to set the file on fire, to be honest. She couldn't believe the nerve of her Sensei. Of all the important cases in the hospital, she gives her a check up? For a traitor no less. She wanted to walk right into her office and give her a piece of her mind. He was the _last _person she wanted to see. Let alone check up.

She sighed and walked down the hallway to his room. Deciding to just suck it up and get this over with as soon as possible. The quicker she got rid of him the better. She walked through the waiting room door for the well patients, eyes scanning the room for Sasuke. It didn't take long for her to find him, seeing as he was only one of three people in the waiting room today. With an inner resolve to stay tough, she looked down at her clip board again.

"Uchiha Sasuke." She called, looking up to meet his eyes. He stood up and walked in front of her, stopping at her side. She motioned for him to follow her, leading him into one of the open exam rooms. She ordered him to sit down on the exam table and to wait while she went prepped the equipment.

"Remove your shirt and lay down on the exam table." Sasuke nodded, internally flinching at her harsh tone. He slowly removed his shirt, showing off his well defined abs, those of a Shinobi. Sakura tried so hard not to blush, steeling herself to remain professional and impartial, even if her hormones we're telling her otherwise.

She walked over to him, putting the stethoscope into her ears and placing the round part over his heart. She counted the heart beats. The "Lubb-Dubb" "Lubb-Dubb" sound which was the expanding and contraction of his ventricles. She wouldn't admit it, but she found the sound soothing. She loved the sound of a human heart beat. The reason she was checking his heart beat first was for any heart murmurs or abnormalities. She found none, and noted so on his chart.

"Sit up and breathe in slow deep breaths." Sasuke once again complied, sitting up as Sakura moved around him, moving herself behind him and putting the stethoscope to his upper back. He took in breaths, Sakura paying close attention to his breathing. He checked out to be good and told him to lie back down.

She walked away from him, turning around and wrote more down on his chart. Her reason for this was because she had to let her blush go, she wasn't blind, and as much as she hated Sasuke, the guy was sexy.

After calming herself down, she turned around again and allowed her hand to glow green with healing chakra. "I'm going to examine your internal organs and your chakra pathway. You may feel a slight tingle, but that's only the chakra." Sasuke nodded, trying not to get turned on by the feel of her hands all over his stomach and chest, and how hot she looked in her lab coat.

No. What was he thinking? He couldn't be having these thoughts. He shouldn't be having these thoughts. He mentally slapped himself. The sooner he got out of here the better. There's no telling what he might do, if she kept roaming her hands around on his chest.

She found no abnormalities, and noted that on his chart, again. As far as she could tell he was as healthy as a horse. The only thing left to check was his height, weight, eyes, and to administer his vaccinations. He was LONG overdue for a tetanus shot and his Hepatitis B shot, as he had his A shot when he was twelve.

She finally moved her healing chakra away from his abs and up to his eyes. She told him to close his eyes as she placed her hands over them. She gasped at what she felt, quickly pushing more healing chakra into her hands. His eye nerves were completely shot. How could he even be seeing anything right now?

"The nerves in your eyes are really torn up. Can you see at all?" Sasuke nodded, besides some eye pain when he used the Sharingan he could see just fine. "I can see fine. My eyes only hurt when I use the Sharingan." Sakura nodded and wrote that down into her chart.

"The nerves that allow your Sharingan to activate are shot. They require immediate fixing or you may never be able to use the Sharingan again." Sasuke furrowed his brows at that, not liking the sound of it at all.

"Is it fixable?" Sakura nodded, not liking this fact, for the sole reason that he would have to come back here again. And she really didn't want to see him again.

"Yes. It's a two hour long procedure where I go into your optic nerves and essentially reconstruct them, using some regenerated tissue, I will lay it over your nerves as a graft, and it will aid your nerves into regenerating new tissue, and within two weeks you should be good as new." Sasuke nodded. At least it was fixable.

After explaining the course of action to him, she ushered him over to a scale. Where she checked his height and weight. He was tall, at 6'1" and he was spot on for his ideal weight. She ushered him to sit back down on the exam table, and pulled out two vaccine's from the little refrigerator in the room. Sasuke's eyes immediately widened, recognizing what those were. He was going to get a shot.

Sakura noticed him tense up out of the corner of her eye and grinned. So he hated shot's eh? Well then, this calls for a bigger needle. With this new found information she opened up a drawer and pulled out the two biggest needles they had, which were a good 4 inches in length.

She peeled back one of the packages first, sticking the needle into the tetanus bottle and pulling the syringe out, measuring the correct dosage. She pushed the syringe in a little, watching some liquid squirt out of the needle. With a nod she turned around and walked over to Sasuke needle in hand. He was sweating bullets now, though he was trying desperately to hide it. That sure was a big needle.

"I'm going to inject you with two shots, one in each arm. Your arms will feel weak for about a day, but that's just the vaccine working." Sasuke nodded, turning his head the other way. He couldn't look at that thing any longer. She disinfected the area with a cotton swob before administering the shot. For sanitary purposes.

She grinned evilly, jabbing the needle into his arm a little harder than necessary and without warning. He let out a low hiss, hating the pain. Shots were an invention from the devil. After she had injected the needle, she pushed the liquid into his blood stream and then placed a barbie band-aid over his arm. They had regular band-aids and they only used the barbie band-aids for little girls, but, Sakura couldn't resist. It was just to comical. And he deserved it.

Taking out the other needle and checking it to make sure it worked she moved to his other arm, and he turned his head to the other side, this time a little more prepared for the pain. She once again jabbed the needle into his arm a little more harder than necessary, and though he didn't hiss, he still clenched his fists at the pain. He was a baby when it came to needles, he always had been.

"Alright. Your free to go Uchiha. Come back in three days for the procedure. And don't use the Sharingan unless you absolutely have to, the more damage that's caused to your nerves, the harder it will be for me to fix it." Sasuke nodded, putting his shirt back on and hopping off the exam table. He bid a small goodbye to Sakura, which she ignored, writing away on his chart, before he exited out the door.

Once she was sure he was gone she let out a huge sigh of relief, and allowed her rapid heart to beat wildly. She was amazed she kept such a great resolve. It was extremely hard being in his presence, not to mention he was topless. And her inner would not stop commenting about his well defined abs. It took all her willpower not to blush.

She was mad still though. He wasn't supposed to have this affect on her damnit. She was better than this, she was no longer that weak little Gennin girl who fawned and followed Sasuke's every move. She wouldn't give into Sasuke no matter what.

She finished writing on his chart and walked to the filing room. She definitely had a bone to pick with Tsunade.

* * *

Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples, allowing a bit of healing chakra to slip around them and sooth her headache. This Danzo business was a mess. She had discovered that Root had never disbanded and has been conducting their business in secret. Not only that, but it seems Danzo has fled the village, hiding somewhere.

Then there was Madara and Tobi. According to the hawk Sou and Harumi had sent Tsunade, they were at this point in time remaining idle. Which didn't surprise Tsunade, as she knew that both Danzo and Madara we're patient men. It could be months before they attacked.

Her tactics team wasn't having much luck either, having only minimal information to go on at this time. Tsunade's main focus, however, was attaining allies. For she knew that she couldn't fight this war alone, and it wasn't just the leaf village that was at stake but the whole Shinobi nations. When Pein had attacked the leaf, he had spoken of a master plan. A new world where there was only peace.

If this was true, then the whole world was in trouble. Not to mention that before the Akatsuki we're killed off, they had acquired all of the tailed demons except for the Eight and Nine tails. It was clear that they we're trying to resurrect the Juubi. Then ten tailed demon who had created the world. (A/N: I am petty positive he did, it kind of all went over my head in the manga, so if I'm wrong or you have a clearer understanding of this, please correct me.)

Those two absolutely under any circumstances could not be caught. It would spell trouble for the whole world. Tsunade was at a loss. She hadn't the slightest idea what to do other than gather allies.

"Hawk-san, get me Shikaku Nara. I'm going to call a meeting of the five Kage's." Hawk nodded, shunshining out of the office in a swirl of leaves. Maybe the other Kage's could help.

Taking out a blank scroll and pen, she started to write a letter requesting the meeting, which she would send after discussing it with her current head of tactics Shikaku Nara.

She opened her bottom drawer and took out a bottle of Sake. Another Shinobi war was on the horizon, and this time it didn't look pretty.

* * *

Hinata had successfully managed to buy an array of new clothes that fit her nicely, as well as some new Kunai and Shuriken. After quickly depositing the bags at home, she decided to head out to Ichiraku ramen.

Sure there was a chance she could see Naruto there, but she had been craving ramen for some reason, and well no wonder Naruto lived on the stuff. Ichiraku ramen was the best ramen in the world. And she always liked talking with Ayame. She was _super _nice.

Approaching the medium sized stand, she ducked under the flaps that hung from the roof of it and sat down at one of the bar stools. It didn't take long before Ayame came out from the back room, grinning at Hinata.

"Hinata-chan is that you? I heard a rumor that you and the Uchiha had returned, but I didn't think it was true!" Hinata nodded and smiled. Relieved that her friend did not hate her.

"Hai, I am back for good. It's nice to be back. I had started to miss Konoha." Ayame nodded, pen and pad at the ready.

"Well we're glad to have you back! Now what can I get for you? It's on the house today, consider it my welcome back gift for our favorite female ninja." Hinata blushed at the complement and grinned.

"Hmm tell Teuchi-oji-san that I'll have a pork ramen, with extra pork please." Ayame nodded and headed back into the back room, handing the order to Teuchi. He grinned as Ayame whispered into his ear, and his eyes widened as he peered out the door and waved to Hinata. She gladly returned it, smiling and waving back.

At least she was accepted here.

She froze at the next voice that reached her ears seeing someone walk into the stand. That someone being Naruto. Hoping she wouldn't be noticed right away, Hinata stayed quiet. But Naruto, being the dense boy he is, paid no attention to anyone that was around him.

"Hey old man! Gimme three pork, three beef, and one shrimp ramen Dattebayo!" Ayame giggled at Naruto, he may have grown up, but he was still a kid when he ate here, using his old catch phrase.

"Hungry today are we Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked, watching him rub his tummy and drool at the smell coming from the back room.

"You bet! I'm extra hungry today, I've been training since this morning." Ayame shook her head at him. Same old Naruto, all he ever did was train. It didn't take long for him to receive his order's as Hinata had already received hers not to long ago.

He happily dug into the ramen, devouring it at inhuman speeds. Once Hinata initially got over her shock, she accidentally let out a slip that she was here.

"Naruto-kun..." Naruto suddenly froze like a deer in head lights, recognizing that soft voice anywhere. He slowly turned his head to the left, noddle hanging from his lips, eyes wide.

Ayame couldn't help but giggle at his expression, the lone noodle just hanging there.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally slurped up the noodle and spoke. "Hinata?" Hinata just stared at him, lost in his blue eyes. She couldn't help it, he was and always has been the love of her life after all.

"What are you doing here?" Hinata tried to hide her hurt at the tone of his voice. He still sounded so hurt and angry. It pained her to see him like that.

"I was hungry so I decided to get some noodles." Naruto nodded, trying to contain his anger. All he wanted to do was yell at her and ask her why she left. But he also couldn't deny his attraction to her, being enchanted by her full lips, they just screamed kiss me.

"Did you train?" Naruto merely nodded at her question, going back to eating his ramen.

"Since eight this morning." Hinata's eyes widened at that. Eight in the morning? That's 9 straight hours!

"That's good. Getting stronger every day." Hinata said, watching Naruto eat. He nodded, having not looked her directly in the eyes since she had called his name, and ended the conversation.

She sighed. It was an awkward silence that had ended up surrounding them, and she hated it. How could she get Naruto to talk to her again?

But, at least she made some progress today, right?

She could only hope.

* * *

**And done! Hopefully the story is going along okay so far! I'm so excited to write this! I have so many idea's forming in my head for this story, I think it's going to burst.**

**Thoughts, comment's, critiques, etc, are always welcome! Let me know if you like it, hate it, or think it just flat out sucks. If you have any questions, leave them in a review and I will answer them as best as I can for you!  
**

**Review!**


	4. Thats The Trouble With Missions!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...SADLY...

**I'M SORRY FOR THE WAIT! I HAVE BEEN BUSY WITH MY SPRING SEMESTER!**

**REMEMBER: This is OOC. Sasuke isn't a complete Ice cube.  
**

**Also the eight gates idea is not my idea, it is Caike's idea from his story 'Company Of The Worthless' which is a GREAT story with a lot of lemony goodness. I strongly suggest you give it a read if you haven't already. It is a NaruHina fic though. And I had to borrow direct dialogue from the story for the gates to make sense. The gates are not mine nor is the explanation itself.**

**By the way for those of you who don't know, Jiga was the man Hinata fought on the Bikochu mission to track Sasuke. Yes I know Hinata defeated him back then, but in my story she never really "defeated" him and now he is allied with the enemy stronger than ever. ****So without further ado, I give you chapter four of The Backup Plan.**

**PS: No children we're harmed in the making of this chapter.  
**

* * *

_That's The Trouble With Love  
_

_Chapter 4  
_

_By: iNaji  
_

_"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time."-Abraham Lincoln  
_

* * *

_~Timeskip~: One week later_

* * *

Community service stinks.

Today, Sasuke had learned that first hand. Today was the day he had to start community service, and he owed two hundred hours of this. Sasuke wasn't so sure he was going to make it.

It was about one in the afternoon and Sasuke had been babysitting the toddlers at the civilian daycare since eight this morning. Sasuke, despite wanting to build his clan, could not handle this group of children well. They cried and screamed and pulled his hair. It was hard enough watching one, but 13 of them was just plain torture.

He loved kids, really he did, but he didn't love them currently.

"Sahke! Sahke!" a little boy yelled as he hung upside down from the light fixture on the ceiling. He obviously had a little trouble pronouncing names. Sasuke cursed, which a little kid behind him started repeating and running around the classroom saying it. He mentally scolded himself for his slip of the tongue and pried the boy off the light fixture. The boy giggled and ran away to the back of the classroom.

Just when Sasuke thought he was out of the safe zone, he had spotted a child eating paste. He sighed exasperated and rushed over to the kid, taking the paste and checking the inside of his mouth for anything that could cause hazard. He relaxed a bit when he saw none and then put all the paste on the top shelf.

Yes, surely the great Uchiha was going to die by death of children.

"S-Sasuke-kun can I have a kiss?" A little girl asked with a cute blush adorning her cheeks as she tugged on his pant leg. **'Oh Kami she cannot be serious****.' **Sasuke forced a slight smile (as big as one would get for the cold Uchiha) and shook his head no, making the girl hang her head in defeat. He sighed, his secret soft side coming through and he instead bent down on one knee and gave the little girl a short hug. She giggled happily and bounded off back to her seat to color. She had hugged a _ninja!_

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose in agony. These kids never got tired and he needed to rest! He had to think fast. How could he get these kids to sleep? Or at least behave.

And that's when an idea struck him. He quickly checked around to make sure no ANBU were near the vicinity and had to pat himself on the back for this brilliant idea. His eyes began to glow red, the tomoe's spinning, as the kids slowly started to fall asleep in their chairs. He then turned off his doujutsu and he moved the kids over to their cots.

Smirking at his genius, he sat down at the teachers desk and relaxed.

"Sasuke Uchiha you did NOT just do what I think you did!" A voice called barging into the room. Sasuke cursed and turned his head to the left to see Shizune right in font of him, hands on her hips, foot tapping, and a look of anger upon her face.

"Shizune-san...I ca-" Shizune cut him off.

"I don't want to hear it. How can you use your Sharingan to put them to sleep? They are CIVILIAN children. I should add 10 extra hours for this." Sasuke's eyes widened at this, but he quickly put his stoic expression back on his face.

"Hn. They are sleeping peacefully, all I did was relax them." Shizune puffed out a breath and looked at the children. They did look peaceful.

"Alright 5 extra hours." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Hn." Damnit all.

* * *

Four men sat around a table, a scroll laid out in front of them, and a masked man looming over them, observing. He occasionally nodded, pleased with the words being exchanged. They needed a battle tactic once they had revived the Juubi.

Of the four men at the table, one man seemed to stick out to him the most. Danzo, the old war hawk of Konoha. Danzo was his trump card. He had classified information on Konoha. He knew the in's and out's and what made the village tick and thrive.

The masked man knew for a fact that one of his ulterior motives for allying with him was that he wanted to become Hokage so that he could finally lead Konoha into an era of absolute power and each and every Shinobi would be under his control. And once he got what he wanted, could potentially prove to be a fatal enemy.

He knew he had to keep Danzo at bay, and only Madara and himself (Tobi) would truly know the ultimate goal. The infinite Tsukuyomi. They would create an ideal world, where there was only peace and one ruler.

And the Juubi would help them do that. The only matter they had left was the successful capture of the eight and nine tails, which would be their most difficult obstacle. But Madara had a plan.

He would lure the Kyuubi out of Konoha. Danzo's undercover men would give them weekly reports on the activities of the Jinchuriki and from that info we would pin point his one true weakness.

"We need a way to weaken Konoha first. Before we do anything else I think it will be advantageous to weaken the leaf." Jiga said, looking to Danzo for a ye or ne. Danzo thought for a moment, and nodded.

"Yes. Even I hate to admit it but right now Konoha is strong. They have many allies except for Sound and The Village Hidden in the Clouds (A/N: will be explained later) We must weaken them considerably before we go up against, essentially, the nations of the world." Tobi nodded his head at that, still observing.

"We need more allies. We should try and get sound and cloud on our side, it would be most advantageous." Dar said, his massive stature nearly towering over everyone else. Jogo was a rouge ninja from the Rock Village and had only recently joined their team.

"We should launch a surprise attack from the inside. A small one at first, something to raise a disturbance and distract most Shinobi's attention. When the ninja are focusing within the village we will surround the village on all four sides." Danzo shook his head at that.

"That won't work. You must not under estimate Konoha. I agree, we start with a small attack inside the village and once the threat is taken care of we wait. We will hide underground. Konoha has secret tunnels long forgotten since the time of the Shodaime. Once we are given a signal we will then attack when the village is on the rebound, and they believe the problem is taken care of. We will mask our chakra, and I will ensure my root ninja keep any enemies away from the tunnels. We'll attack on the Summer Solstice." Tobi nodded approvingly at the plan.

He wasn't called a war hawk for nothing.

"Excellent...you two...I think you need to pay a visit to the Sound village." Jiga and Jogo stood up, bowing and walked out.

This was only the beginning.

* * *

"We have to protect Naruto at all costs. That's their main target." Shikaku said, having already been informed previously by the Hokage all of the information she had found out.

"But Naruto has mastered full control of the Kyuubi now. So it won't be so easy to capture him. We'll need him on the front lines. He's strong and he can make a lot of shadow clones to help even for just a little bit." Shikamaru said, also in attendance of this meeting.

"You are right, however, you most not forget son that we aren't dealing with just any man. This is Madara Uchiha we are talking about. He is strong, clever, and patient. As strong as all of us are, at this point in time, the only person capable of truly going head to head with that man is Tsunade herself. We cannot underestimate our opponent." Shikamaru nodded.

"But we must also not underestimate Naruto. If anyone can defeat Madara it will be Naruto. He wont allow a loss anyway. I think we need to focus on a battle tactic just in case they do come after our village." Tsunade nodded.

"Well I have called a meeting of the Five Kage's. You and your father will be escorting me. It is in a couple days time. There we will discuss more, however, I must agree with your father, Shikamaru. Madara is strong, even I fear going against him. My grandfather was a strong man, and the only one to have defeated him." Shikamaru sighed.

"I will get back to you with a plan. I want to do some investigating first." Shikaku nodded in agreement with Tsunade.

"Very well. Dismissed. Shikaku please stay back for a few minutes." Shikamaru bowed to the Hokage and walked out the door. As he was walking out of the Hokage's office he ran into his long time girlfriend, Ino.

"Shika-kun! How was the meeting?" Shikamaru lit a cigarette and inhaled it deeply. He let the smoke out of his mouth. "We don't have much as of now. We have only called a meeting of the five Kage's." Ino nodded and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

"It'll be okay. Your smart, you and your father will come up with something." Shikamaru took another drag from his cigarette.

"I can only hope. Where are you heading off too?" Shikamaru motioned looking at the bag his girlfriend was holding in her hands. They had moved in together a few months ago and had rented a small apartment near her families flower shop.

"Oh! I'm on my way to Sakura's. Her and I are having a little girl time since she has been a wreck since Sasuke and Hinata came back. A little spa treatment will do her some good." Shikamaru nodded and walked to Ino, removing the cigarette from his mouth and giving her a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Troublesome. I'll see you at the apartment later yeah?" Ino nodded smiling. Shikamaru waved from behind as he walked the opposite direction of Ino.

It was kind of funny how they came together. Who would have thought all it took was seeing Temari kiss him for Ino to blow a gasket and loudly profess her love for him right in front of the sand siblings.

Shikamaru at first was torn, he didn't know what to do. He had always viewed Ino as this beautiful girl who would never love a lazy ass like him, but boy was he wrong.

It didn't take him long though to realize how much he truly did care for his blonde teammate. It was really troublesome for him mind you, and he grumbled about it the whole time, but he ended up following his heart and returning Ino's feelings and they have been dating ever since.

**'Maybe I should head off to the library to see if I can find anything that I don't already know on Madara.' **Shikamaru thought, deciding to do just that and headed to the library, and then planned to take a nice long nap under his favorite tree.

Lord knows all this movement is troublesome.

* * *

"Saks! Open up!" Ino called pounding on Sakura's apartment door. As Sakura was the second in command at the hospital she lived in a very upscale apartment complex. It was more like a condominium then anything surrounded by many others just like it in a more wooded part of Konoha.

"Hold your horses Ino-pig!" Sakura called, rushing to open the door and let her best friend in. TenTen had stopped by earlier that day by chance and had decided to stick around for what was originally just going to be Ino and Sakura's little spa day. Sakura didn't mind as she quite liked TenTen.

The only girl not present was Hinata.

"Come on in." Sakura said as she motioned towards the couch where TenTen was sitting flipping through the channels on her TV. Ino shook her head at her friend and then set the goods on the base of the kitchen window in the wall (A/N: you know that thing with no glass that you can see into the kitchen and eat on? yeah that xD)

"Hey forehead girl!" Sakura smiled at her and waved slightly. Ino had changed a lot over the past six years, having matured a smudge, but she still loved to gossip.

She turned to look at Sakura, face suddenly serious. "Now down to business. Why did you slap poor Hinata?" Ino questioned, having gotten in touch with the girl recently when she saw her out shopping for new clothes and had helped her out.

Hinata had explained to Ino when she had asked what her and Sasuke were to each other and Hinata had explained that they were brother and sister and the story of how that came to be. And that even though he didn't show it, he cared for Sakura a lot but she made Ino swear not to tell, and she even threatened violence against her. Ino, knowing this was one the thing she couldn't gossip about nodded, secretly fearing Hinata's wrath.

Sakura turned away from Ino and harrumphed, crossing her arms.

"Don't be a baby Sakura! Your 18 for Christ's sake!" Sakura dropped her hands and turned back to Ino though she still had a glower smothered on her face.

"Why else Ino-pig? She knew that I _loved _Sasuke and she went off with him. He wouldn't even take me when I begged him to let me go with him, yet he let's _her _come along? And they spend six years together. It would be impossible not to have feelings for each other. I know they secretly have something going on. And I will _never _forgive Sasuke or Hinata for this." Ino looked at her friend in disbelief.

"Did you ever confront Hinata about this? Ask her yourself. You know she has always been a nice and honest girl, Sakura, and SHES OUR FRIEND. Don't you think you at least owe it to her and yourself to talk to her?" Sakura shook her head.

"No Ino. I will not talk to either of them and that's final. Now either stop talking about this or get out of my house." Ino sighed and nodded, joining TenTen on the couch.

Soon enough their little spat was forgotten and they all started to talk and chat away like they hadn't seen each other in years.

While painting their nails and putting on facial masks of course.

* * *

Sasuke could have jumped for joy at having been finally released from those little demon brats. He had managed to keep them asleep for about a half hour before they all woke up re-energized and ready to annoy the crap out of him once again.

Now having his freedom for the day, he slid his hands into his pockets and leisurely walked through Konoha.

"Sasu-chan!" A feminine voice called out from behind him. Sasuke shivered as a dark aura surrounded him. Only one person ever called him that and he hated that name.

"Hn. Anko." Sasuke turned around and came face to face with his senior. When he was a Genin, she had taught him the twin assassination technique before he had left the village after he had practically forced her. She agreed only on the condition that she could call him Sasu-chan for the rest of his life.

He was regretting this promise now.

"I heard you were back, but I guess I had to see for myself. So you killed the old bastard eh? I always knew you'd be the one to do it." Sasuke nodded, offering no words in reply.

"Still stoic as ever. You should really remove that stick from up your ass." Sasuke glowered at Anko's laugh as she ruffled his hair.

"Be a good little boy and run along now." Sasuke looked at her in disgust. He simply walked away.

"Hn." Anko shook her head and jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Still an arrogant little brat.

He continued on his trek through the village, taking in the afternoon hustle, and observing the uneasy looks he received from civilians. He walked through an alley to take a shortcut to his house, planning to avoid running into anyone he didn't want to run into. Especially Sakura. Not because he didn't like her, but because he hated to see the way he made her furrow her beautiful face into a look of contempt and hurt.

It hurt his very soul knowing that his blossom, his Sakura with the most beautiful jade eyes, detested him. But he couldn't blame her.

He brought it onto himself.

* * *

There was a knock on Sakura's door. She angrily stood up to open it. She was angry because that knock had moved her from her nice warm spot on the couch with her friends TenTen and Ino.

Blowing out a breath of hot air she opened the door and on the other side stood an ANBU. She mentally cursed knowing the reason for this visit. She had a mission.

"Sakura-san, the Hokage requests your presence at her office immediately." Sakura nodded and waved the ANBU off, thoroughly pissed. It was supposed to be her day off.

"Damnit all. It's my day off and I have a mission. Sorry girls, we'll have to continue this later. Make sure you lock up when you leave." The girls nodded at her clearly bummed that she had to leave.

"Be safe Forehead! If you die on me I'll never forgive you." Ino smiled at her long time rival and friend with a look of genuine concern, despite using her nick name for her.

"Aren't I always Ino-Pig?" Sakura replied before putting her kunai holster back on her thigh and heading out the door with a ja ne!

Hopping from roof top to roof top Sakura trekked across Konoha, making her way to the Hokage Tower. She had planned to give Tsunade a piece of her mind when she arrived. After all her hours at the hospital and her most recent mission, she deserved a day of rest damnit.

**'I wonder what this mission could be. Who will be on it? I hope to god Naruto is there, I don't think I could go on a mission with Sasuke or Hinata without him.' **Sakura thought worriedly. She did NOT want to face Sasuke or Hinata. If she had it her way, she would have avoided them both all together.

But Kami was not on her side.

Sucks.

* * *

Naruto nearly ripped Sasuke a new one when he saw him and Hinata in Tsunade's office when he entered. He had received a message from an ANBU that he was needed for an urgent mission.

He should have known Baa-chan would do something cheeky like this.

"Hn. Look what the cat dragged in, a Dope." Naruto growled at Sasuke and walked towards him, stopping a foot away from him.

"Look what traitor came back, Teme." Sasuke scowled and put his hand on the hilt of Kusanagi, ready to battle it out. Naruto eagerly matched it, forming a Rasengan in his hand.

"ENOUGH!" Tsunade shouted, using her super strength to give them both a good whack on the head. Hinata sniggered at the two before getting a stern look from Tsunade. She stopped immediately.

"Cool it you two and you as well Hinata. We'll wait until your fourth member get's here so that I can debrief you all at once. Until then, you," at this she pointed to Sasuke, "In that corner. Now." Sasuke grunted but complied, facing the wall. "And you, brat, over there. Now." Naruto grumbled and walked to his corner, back facing Tsunade. It was comical really, two 18 year old boys in time out. Each one sulking and grumbling with their arms crossed.

And it just so happened that at this point in time Sakura had decided to appear in the doorway of Tsunade's office, her right shoulder leaning against the door frame as she let out a hardy laugh and Sasuke wanted to die at how embarrassing this was.

"So the traitor and Naruto are in time out? It's about time." Sasuke's stomach dropped and his heart lurched at the new name, but held it together none the less. Tsunade smiled a shook her head a bit before getting serious and down to business.

"Okay enough with this folly. I've called you four here today," At this she did a sweeping motion across the room, "because you four will be going on a very important A-rank mission. Recently there have been sightings of two rouge ninja who were thought to be dead. They have been seen lurking around The Land of Waves and Otokagure. Their objective is unknown but they have already killed innocent people. Your mission is to locate and observe the two rouge ninja before going in and assassinating them. Hinata will lead this mission. Any questions?" Hinata spoke up.

"I have permission correct?" Tsunade, knowing what she was referring to from their private talk earlier nodded her head in affirmation at Hinata.

"Hai, but if you need help you know where to find it." Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura looked at Hinata in confusion but she just waved them off. They shrugged and started to pack, following orders to pack only the essentials and meet at the front gates in an hour.

They weren't sure what the mission would bring, but they knew they couldn't let their emotions cloud their judgement.

Or the results would be deadly.

* * *

"Damnit where is that Teme?" Naruto huffed in annoyance as he lazed on a tree branch that hung over the watch box that the Chuunin on duty sat in when guarding the gates. His right leg was lying flat atop the tree branch while his left foot hung over the side and was swinging back and forth while his back was up against the tree. His father's cape hung down over the branch and his hair ruffled with the breeze.

Hinata would never admit it out loud be he looked absolutely sexy like that. He sure has grown into a hottie tattie (Hot-e Tot-e).

"He'll be here Naruto-kun." Hinata replied looking up at him. He only nodded to her which made Hinata a little sad. When would he be okay with her?

Sakura on the other hand was glaring daggers at Hinata who was talking like she knew Sasuke like the back of her hand. When Sakura's the one that was Sasuke's teammate, she knows him better than anyone.

_**'But Hinata knows more about him now. Your jealous of her.'**_Sakura scowled at her inner.

_'Shush up. Hinata betrayed me. She knows nothing.' _Her inner shook her head at her outer.

_**'She spent six years with him, alone. Why wouldn't she know him? Your jealous because she got to be with our precious Sasuke-kun. You hate her because she got to go along and you didn't.'**_

'_Hmph.' _Sakura ignored the rest of her inner's comments before coming back to reality.

"Are we ready now?" A deep masculine voice called out. Sakura didn't even have to turn around to know whose voice that was. She could recognize that voice anywhere.

"Sasuke-kun..." she whispered, clutching a hand to her heart. Why was it beating so fast? She was supposed to be hating him, not having heart palpitations just from his voice. She shook her head and turned around, face and voice hardening. She would not give him the satisfaction.

"About time you showed up, traitor." Sasuke's face remained stoic at the comment, but inside it hurt him. He smirked and gave her a smoldering look that sent her reeling.

**"**Hn." Sakura growled at his one word response and it only widened Sasuke's smirk. She was so cute when she was angry.

"Enough. Let's go, the sooner we start this mission the better." Naruto exclaimed, swinging down from the branch and landing swiftly on the ground. The others nodded and all four of them bounded through the tree tops into the unknown.

Hinata was leading the pack, her Byakugan activated scouting for any traps or danger. Sasuke was behind her, as the first attacker, Sakura was behind Sasuke because she was the healer and behind her was Naruto who was the other powerhouse on the team who would guard Sakura from behind.

They planned to make it to The land of Grass by nightfall which would be the half way point to wave. It was essentially a three day trip but they wanted to make it in two.

The silence was awkward. Each one not knowing what to say, and the tension could be cut with a knife. It seemed like hours until Sakura finally broke the silence.

"When we get to wave we should disguise ourselves. If the rouge ninja don't think that we are ninja it will be easier to keep track and observe them." Hinata nodded as if agreeing with the idea but Sasuke was the one who pointed out the flaw.

"What will we be disguised as? We can't just change our appearance and get away with it. Any Shinobi can dress as a civilian." Naruto frowned at Sasuke's tone towards Sakura. He had a point but did he have to be so arrogant?

They thought for awhile before Hinata finally spoke.

"Traveling couples. It's inconspicuous and no one will think that a couple on their honey moon will be fighting ninja. We'll split into two. Sakura will be paired with Sasuke and I will be paired with Naruto. We'll each enter the village separately, and stay in different places. That way we'll be able to cove more ground and to spot them faster. Any complaints?" Surprisingly no one raised their hand. Sakura, because she didn't want Hinata anywhere near Sasuke while she was around (though she wouldn't admit it) and Naruto who wanted to protect Hinata even if he was still hurt. She was still his precious person.

"Hn. We'll set up camp in The Land of Grass and set out tomorrow morning." They fell into silence once again, their pace seeming to quicken now that they had a sure fire plan. They may not have all been on good terms, but they would not fail this mission. What kind of ninja would they be if they let their personal vendetta's get in the way of the mission.

"Who made you leader." Naruto replied with a snarky tone. Sasuke scoffed.

"Dope you couldn't even lead a team of Gennin." Sasuke smirked at Naruto's clenched fists.

"Why I oughta." Hinata stepped in between the two before things could get worse. As mission leader she had to keep the peace.

"Let's stop this. The sooner we set up camp the happier all of us will be." Sakura pulled both boys by the ears and continued on, earning whines and pleas from both of her teammates.

When they finally reached a nice clearing to set up camp, each of them immediately went off to do their own things. Sasuke and Sakura went to secure their camps border's while Naruto and Hinata took care of setting up the tents and catching food.

Hinata leisurely walked towards the river, bucket in hand. She was going to catch them fish for dinner and she had brought her own spices to make the fish taste better. She took off her sandals and waded through the water, coming to a stop in the middle of the lake. She set the bucket upon a nearby rock and let her chakra flow through her body and pooled around her hands where she stuck them into the water and spread her chakra over the surface.

Once she had surrounded herself with the chakra she started spinning gracefully, moving her arms in a windmill pattern while doing so, and catching fish upon fish and putting them in the bucket. Her chakra strings acted as a fishing line and using her chakra she would grip the surrounding fish she attracted with her chakra that was spread over the surface of the water.

Sakura had just so happened to step onto the riverbank to secure the area over there when a chakra spike caught her attention. She looked over to see Hinata spinning and catching fish after fish. The bucket was almost full by now, but she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy.

Hinata had gotten stronger. Hinata had been with Sasuke and got to train with him. Hinata had a cool way to catch fish. Hinata this, Hinata that. It was all Sakura could think about when her jade eyes came to rest upon the Hyuga girl.

She couldn't stand to see the girl any longer and so with a smirk she cracked her fingers and punched her fist onto the river bank, sending a shock wave on the river floor breaking it up, and then finally the wave caught Hinata in mid spin and made her fall into the water, drenching herself. Sakura felt a sense of pride run through her at seeing Hinata sopping wet.

Hinata, after wiping the water from her eyes and pushing her hair away from her face, looked up to see Sakura standing there with an innocent smile and a wave. Hinata glared and huffed, picking herself up out of the water, and taking her bucket full of fish with her, walking back towards camp.

When everyone had arrived back at camp the first thing they noticed was a soaking wet Hinata and a bucket full of fish. Sasuke, knowing that Hinata never fell in when she was doing her fish catching jutsu, could only guess it was Sakura's doing. And while he felt bad, he had to admit it was kind of cute that Sakura would do that, in his eyes anyway.

Naruto had to look away from Hinata when he saw her, this time not because he wanted to look away, but because he was hiding his blush from everyone. He had noticed all to well that her clothes clung to her body like water to a mirror and well if he was being totally honest with himself, and being the apprentice of Jiraiya, he couldn't help but admire her bust. Her big, full, bust. _**'Okay bad thoughts bad thoughts. Stop thinking dirty things about Hinata-chan. Bad Naruto. Bad.'**_

"Why are you wet Hinata?" Sasuke asked, trying to hold back his chuckle. She looked absolutely ridiculous.

"Why don't you ask the pink powder puff over there." Hinata spat glancing at Sakura. Sakura snickered back at her. It was one thing to dislike her, Hinata could understand that, but to personally attack her? Now that was something entirely different.

"I was just trying to break up the ground for practice, it's not my fault you were in the way." Hinata shook her head indignantly.

"Yeah and I'm Rock Lee. Let's just eat." Hinata got out some cooking supplies and started a fire, cleaning and seasoning the fish before slow cooking it. By the time she was finished, the smell had wafted through the camp making everyone's mouth water.

"Dinner's served!" Hinata chimed handing everyone a cleaned and seasoned fish. Despite Sakura's earlier actions, she ate the fish with gusto, because as much as she hated to admit it it was really good.

"This is amazing!" Naruto exclaimed happily inhaling his fish. Food made him forget all about his hurt for the moment. The fastest way to a mans heart is through his stomach, you know.

"There's plenty more." Hinata said as she smiled and gestured to the five fish still over the fire.

With their bellies full and their hearts content (for now) they each decided to head in early as they would need their full strength tomorrow, with Hinata and Naruto taking the first watch.

* * *

They had decided to share one big tent, to save luggage, and so there were four sleeping bags laid out, two of them already being occupied by Sasuke and Sakura. The night was cold, and Sasuke had always been a freeze baby (another secret of his) and he was utterly miserable. He couldn't sleep and his teeth were chattering.

He turned to his right and saw Sakura two sleeping bags away, sleeping peacefully, and not shivering. He sighed at the distance, and debated whether to go over there or not. On one hand he had his pride and didn't want to admit defeat to the cold. On the other hand it wouldn't be all that bad having Sakura in his arms. Even though he knows he shouldn't, that the more he lets her in, the more dangers she's in, but he disregards it right now, throwing caution to the wind.

He's cold and there's only one person who can warm him up.

Sakura.

He slowly get's out of his sleeping bag, and walks over to Sakura's standing above her, just observing at first. The sleeping bag looked tiny, definitely not big enough for two people, but he could care less at that moment.

He bends down to the zipper on her sleeping bag, unzipping it, and then crawling in, suddenly filling up the excess space of the bag. He zipped them up and adjusted himself so that he was lying on his left side, his chest to Sakura's backside, and he let his arms wrap around her, pulling her close. He instantly warmed up to her body heat.

Sakura woke up.

"Uchiha what the fuck do you think your doing? This is my sleeping bag, get out." Sasuke grunted and pulled Sakura tighter, nuzzling his face absentmindedly into her hair. He was tired.

"Hn. Shut up it's cold." Sakura growled and started wiggling around, trying to break free of his grip but to no avail. Sasuke was getting annoyed.

"Damnit woman! Stop wiggling and let me sleep. It's cold." Sakura huffed loudly and stopped, resuming her previous position. Sasuke, if possible, seemed to hold onto her tighter as he lost himself to the recesses of sleep. Sakura, now awake, couldn't help but be furious at herself. Not because Sasuke was in her sleeping bag, but because it took all her power not to cuddle back into him, to stop her fluttering heart, and to silence the butterflies in her stomach.

She hated this man, damnit, she shouldn't be feeling this way! _**'And he's so arrogant, thinking he can just take any old sleeping bag. Why mine? Stupid Sasuke.'**_

After what seemed like hours of an inner battle, Sakura sighed and gave up deciding that she needed rest and she wanted to be on her A game tomorrow. As she drifted off to sleep, she couldn't help but unintentionally indulge in Sasuke's body heat. It felt so safe and warm.

As much as she hated him, she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

"Naruto-kun! I see something about 30 miles ahead of us, but I can't make out if it's an animal or a human. It has the qualities of an animal, but the outline of a human."

Naruto turned his head into the direction of Hinata, noticing her Byakugan was activated, and scrunched up his face in thought. A beast human maybe? Like Kiba's beast mimicry?

"Is it a threat?" Hinata shook her head.

"Ie. It doesn't seem to have much chakra, but that doesn't look like normal chakra." Naruto nodded and created four shadow clones. He sent them 30 miles ahead of the campsite to observe what that thing was.

They once again fell back into silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they sat upon the tree branch. Naruto still couldn't bring himself to forgive Hinata, and Hinata couldn't think of what to say to Naruto.

"You know Naruto-kun, I've always believed in you." Naruto looked to Hinata and offered a small smile and nodded. She however was looking up into the night sky, marveling at how many stars were visible in it.

"I know. You never once doubted me, arigato." Hinata nodded, not willing to let them drop back into silence and continued. She thought of the next thing she would say.

"I believe that deep down you can forgive Sasuke." Naruto's eyes widened at what she just said. She didn't believe he would forgive her?

"He isn't a bad person, Naruto-kun. You know that, you can always see the good in people no matter what. You can change anyone, and I admire that. I know your hurt but he is your brother, Naruto-kun, you can't hate him forever." Naruto just nodded and turned away.

"You have a way with words, you know that Hinata?" Hinata laughed trying to conceal her shiver.

"I'm a Hyuga it's in my blood." Naruto nodded and they slipped back into silence...again. After awhile Naruto's keen ears thanks to Kyuubi had picked up the sound of chattering. He slightly looked to his right to see Hinata trying to hide her shiver and calm her chattering teeth.

Taking pity on the girl, he took of his jacket and gave it to her, using the Kyuubi's chakra to keep him warm. She smiled at him and nodded gratefully, inhaling the musky sent of Naruto.

"Arigato, Naruto-kun." Naruto nodded and continued watching the scenery around him for signs of danger. This didn't mean he forgave her, he supposed, but it was a start.

_**'Baby steps Hinata, baby steps.'**_She thought as she dug herself deeper into his jacket.

She wasn't cold anymore.

* * *

"UCHIHA!" Sakura shrieked as soon as she woke up, bolting up right, but being slammed back down just as quick for Sasuke still had his iron like grip around her. Sakura, pissed at the fact Sasuke was in her sleeping bag, cuddling her, and she was enjoying it, tried to get free.

"Ugh. So loud and its early, be quiet." Sakura growled and smacked him. Sasuke finally opened his eyes, still half asleep and growled back. He wasn't a morning person and he had a completely different personality in the mornings.

"IF YOU DON'T GET OUT RIGHT NOW SO HEL-" Sasuke smashed his lips to hers, effectively shutting her up, stunning her. He smirked. Maybe making her mad wouldn't be so bad.

"Sleep." And he precisely went back to sleep, closing his eyes and trying to gain back his warmth, pulling Sakura back with him. Thankfully Naruto and Hinata were heavy sleepers and weren't aroused by her outburst, but Sakura did notice Naruto's jacket around Hinata.

After Sakura had calmed her beating heart and her wild blush, her shock turned to anger and she got out of the sleeping bag, using her strength to break free of Sasuke's grip storming out of the tent. She was reeling from that kiss, and she was not happy about it.

_**'Goddamn that Uchiha, thinking he can just kiss someone like that! I hate him, he's so arrogant and cocky.' **_Sakura stomped her way over to the lake to wash up, trying to clear her mind, she needed that after the night and morning she had.

She discarded her clothes and folded them neatly on a rock before slinking down into the water and letting the dirt and grime wash off her body. She felt so much cleaner now.

It wasn't long before Sakura saw Hinata enter the water, discarding her mesh top and in the process of discarding her pants. Sakura looked at Hinata in envy and absentmindedly brought her hands to her chest. Her B's were nothing compared to Hinata's D's.

"Ohayo Sakura!" Sakura glared and turned her back to Hinata. She wouldn't talk to her, she absolutely refused to. Hinata frowned at her friend and tried not to let her behavior get to her. She was stronger now, and she could take a little ice.

After a silent bath on both ends, the girls walked back to camp to find everyone packed and ready to go, and even their things we're packed as well. Sakura looked at Sasuke but glared and quickly looked away, trying to hide her blush because the kiss kept replaying in her mind against her will.

Sasuke smirked at Sakura before turning to Naruto.

"Dope, where to next?" Naruto glared and looked at the map in his hands, making sure they were following the right route.

"Teme. We continue south, and we should be there by mid afternoon if we double our speed." He nodded and turned to the girls.

"Ready?" They both nodded and slung their packs onto their backs and hopped off into the trees, quickly returning to the formation they adopted yesterday.

It was silent again, each was lost in their own thoughts about the other. The sound of wind passing them was all that could be heard, and the tap tap their shoes made when they hit the wood accompanied that. It continued on like that for the majority of the day, until they finally reached the gates of the village.

"Okay so we all know our identities correct?" Naruto voiced to the team. They nodded, Hinata trying to hide her blush as she said her alias.

"Mrs. Yuki Takero. Wife to Hiro Takero." Naruto nodded at the mention of his own "alias" and turned to Sasuke.

"Kyohei Komachi. Husband to Fumi Komachi." Sakura was glaring at Sasuke on the outside, but her heart was fluttering on the inside. She wished it would stop. She wished her heart would do what its told.

"Good. As soon as we get into the village we'll go into the nearest store and buy different clothes. Remember think civilian." Sasuke said turning to Naruto. Naruto nodded as they walked through the gates, Hinata on Naruto's right and Sakura on Sasuke's left.

On initial inspection the village looked like it was healthy and thriving, with civilians milling about the market, and rows of shops open for business, even the land was wealthy and the air was crisp and clean. Much better than how it looked when they were twelve. (A/N: Because they are in disguise they can't visit Tazuna because that would give away that they are ninja.)

It didn't take long before the four soon spotted a clothing store for civilians and entered the door, ringing the bell as they did so, alerting the shop owner. He merely looked up from his paper and told them to look around until they found something they liked.

Splitting into different directions, Sakura and Hinata went into the womens section, while Naruto and Sasuke obviously went towards the men's section. There was a wide variety of clothes, a style to fit everyone there it seemed, as they sifted through the racks.

After about a half hour of trying on and discarding clothes, the four had all come to terms with the outfit they would be donning for the duration of their stay here.

Sasuke walked out of the store in a black long sleeved T-shirt with a red vest over top of it and a pair of black cloth civilian pants wrapped at the ankles, and traded in his ninja shoes for civilian shoes.

Naruto had quite liked the outfit he had found, which was a white button up shirt with a long black trench coat over top that came down to his ankles and the sleeves were 3/4 sleeves. He wore a pair of black civilian pants and a pair of civilian shoes. He looked like a Yankee. (A/N: Picture Gauken Naruto)

Hinata had opted for a modest housewife look with a yellow t-shirt with a long brown ankle length dress over top and traded in her strappy sandals for regular sandals. She also put in green contacts so that you wouldn't know she was a Hyuga. (A/N: Think pregnant Kushina's outfit except Hinata isn't pregnant)

Sakura had decided to adopt a more modern look with green civilian capri's and a grey long sleeved shirt that stopped just above her right hip in the front, but swooped past her mid thigh in the back. She wore civilian sandals and in place of her headband she had replaced it with a civilian woman's bandana and dyed her hair from pink to brown using a jutsu.

"Kyohei, you take the south end, we'll take the north end. We'll meet up outside the village tomorrow unless one of us finds something. I'll send a clone if I do." said Naruto snaking an arm around his "wife" to look convincing. Hinata tried so hard not to blush and melt into a puddle of goo at his touch. She knew he was only acting, but she couldn't help but slightly hope he liked her even a little bit.

Not wanting to fail the mission, Hinata half turned to Naruto and put her hands around his waist looking up at him. She smiled at him and then turned to Kyohei and Fumi.

"Hn." Naruto rolled his eyes at his ex teammate and started to walk away from them towards the North end of the village, never once retracting his arm from Hinata's waist. Oddly enough, it felt right there, natural, like it was meant to be around her and only her.

* * *

"Fumi-chan, look to your right." Sasuke whispered to his "wife" as he subconsciously tightened his hold on her left hand. Sakura turned to her right and nodded her head to her husband, understanding that they may have found a potential suspect.

"What do we do Kyohei-kun?" Sasuke looked to the two men that were talking, one a civilian and the other a ninja, and noticed they were next to an alley. He smirked as he thought of the perfect idea, and started to drag a giggling Sakura after he told her to act like she was a giggling teenager.

Sasuke walked over to the alleyway, and entered it. Once he knew he wasn't detected he suddenly pinned Sakura against the wall, covering her small body with his larger one, pushing himself so close to her that she could feel his muscles underneath his clothes, and used his right hand to support himself against the wall while his left hand came to a rest on the back of her neck. He tilted his head to the left side and positioned his mouth right next to her ear.

To any onlooker, they would look like two young adults making out, but to them it was a cover to get possible information on their potential target.

"Fu-mi-chan..." Sasuke voiced huskily drawing out the last syllable of her name. Sakura felt a shiver rack her body as his warm breath fanned itself across her ear. "Listen." and then Sasuke dipped his head lower, resting his nose in the crook of her neck, inhaling her wonderful scent. Normally he wouldn't allow himself to ever feel this, to even think of the fact of being with Sakura like this for the risk of being seen by his enemy. But right now he wasn't Sasuke Uchiha, but Kyohei Komachi.

And Kyohei Komachi could have Fumi Komachi because Kyohei Komachi had no enemies, but Sasuke Uchiha could not have Sakura Haruno because Sasuke Uchiha did.

"Kyohei...you...ass..." Sakura huffed out, trying so hard to keep her blush and hormones in check. She could feel Sasuke's essence all around her, and it was driving her crazy. He had that cocky smirk on his face again, she could feel it against her neck, and she wanted nothing more than to push him off of her and never see him again. But she was on a mission and she would not fail it.

"Fumi-chan...is that anyway to talk to your husband?" Sasuke smirked as he kissed the flesh of her neck, nipping it occasionally, and even leaving a love bite.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel his ego swell at Sakura's gasp, and he had quickly decided that he liked teasing and flustering Sakura. She was so cute when she was flustered. Sakura was about to reply, but Sasuke quickly silenced her with his finger.

"Do you have the stuff Tobi asked for?" A tall and buff man said with his hand held out in expectancy. He looked like someone you didn't want to mess with.

The much smaller civilian man deposited a medium sized box in his hands.

"Hai, Dar. We have about 600,000 more of those being manufactured and imported as we speak. These are top of the line, and will surely annihilate any ninja that stand in your way." Dar smiled a crooked smile at the man.

"Excellent. And this village will be the perfect test subject." The civilian man nodded, knowing he'd be spared from the mass slaughtering that would take place in a few days time.

"Here is your pay, so quickly go." The man nodded taking the sac of coins and scurried off to his home, and the sinister man, Dar, walked in the opposite direction spotting Sasuke and Sakura and mumbling something about "young love".

Once Dar was safely out of sight, Sakura pushed Sasuke off of her and glared at him, hard. If looks could kill, he'd have been dead a thousand times over.

"Never do that again you insensitive, traitorous, heartless, bastard!" Sasuke kept his gaze calm and steady, though on the inside, he couldn't help but feel a slight sting at her words. If only fate wasn't so cruel, to dangle what he desired most in life right in front of his face, knowing he could never have a life with her.

Sasuke smirked as he gave her a smouldering look, noting the flush of red upon her face. "Fumi-chan, your doing an awful job at this mission." Sakura growled at the man in front of her, turning her head away and crossing her arms. She was acting like a child.

"Kyohei-kun, let us find Hiro and Yuki..._now_..." Sakura said grinding her teeth together as she stomped over to Sasuke and looped her arm around his, begrudgingly clinging to him. She kept telling herself she didn't like him anymore, that the butterflies in her stomach when they touched were just a reaction to being by her ex-teammate again and not because she still loved him. She most definitely did not love him.

But that's the funny thing, ignorance is bliss...dear Sakura-chan.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata's interlocked hands swayed back and forth as they walked together, rings glistening against the suns rays. They had bought the rings in the same shop they had bought their clothes, because not only did they have to act that part of husband and wife, but they had to have some type of believable proof too.

Hinata was in absolute bliss walking beside Naruto as his wife. She knew this wasn't real, that Naruto was simply acting this way towards her, but she didn't care. Hinata had dreamed of this since she was a child in the academy, becoming the wife of Naruto and being the mother of his kids. That was her life's goal, to become Mrs. Hinata Uzumaki-Namikaze.

Soon after Hinata had returned to the village, she had found out about Naruto's lineage from Tsunade and how he had adopted the Namikaze name as well, making him Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. She was happy for Naruto, knowing he had had a loving family and that he was indeed no orphan, but in fact the son of the fourth Hokage as well as Whirlpools red demon, Kushina Uzumaki.

Naruto glanced over at Hinata and couldn't help but crack the slightest of smiles. Even in civilian clothes, she looked absolutely beautiful. As much as he hated to admit it, being like this, being with Hinata again, his heart and resolve to keep her away was slowly fading. As his hand was entwined with hers he remembered the day he realized he had fallen for her.

_~Flashback~_

_"Every man should learn this, Naruto." A drunken Jiraiya had drawled as he burst into the room of the inn they were currently staying at, rousing Naruto from his thoughts. Naruto looked at his pervy Sensei and shook his head, he made no sense.  
_

_"Learn what, Ero-sannin?" Jiraiya grinned a lecherous grin and sat down next to his pupil, throwing an arm around him and laughing._

_"How to please a woman of course!" Naruto scrunched up his face at his Sensei, having no reason or desire to learn that, whilst blushing at the thought of being with a woman like...that._

_"Listen here boy, with this technique, any girl can be yours." Naruto just shook his head at his Sensei. Must he come back completely drunk every night?_

_"I want to learn the Rasengan damnit! Not this stupid crap." Jiraiya just patted the boy on the back._

_"You'll thank me one day brat! Learn this and I'll help you summon Gamabunta." Naruto's eyes widdened at this, having been unsuccessful in summoning the boss toad. _

_"Fine Ero-sannin, what is this...technique you speak of..." Jiraiya grinned and proceeded to hold up one finger preparing to give a lesson_

_"__These techniques function like the Eight Gates of chakra, except that you perform them on someone else. They can, however be just as dangerous, in the wrong hands._" Naruto looked at his Sensei, now slightly curious about these techniques. Jiraiya continued. "_They act by inserting chakra into your lady's body via a refined chakra blade, finer than that of a syringe. Don't worry. It won't hurt, and the more chakra you put in, the better the effect." Naruto nodded, mentally taking notes. Though he couldn't imagine using this on any girl, who would even want to be with him anyway?_

___________"Well I don't want to sleep with just anyone Ero-sannin." Jiraiya grinned at the boy deciding to help the boy out a bit. _

___________"Close your eyes," Naruto nodded and did as he was told. "Picture all the women that you would consider a potential partner in your head." Naruto conjured up the images of his comrades, Hinata, Ino, Temari, Sakura and TenTen. _

___________"Okay now what?" Jiraiya continued. "I want you to eliminate the girl or girls who you would feel the most uncomfortable with." Naruto nodded and erased Temari, TenTen, and Ino from his mind, leaving only his teammate Sakura, and the shy beauty Hinata.  
_

___________"Now this is where you will need to do some thinking. Do you love either of the girls that are left? Who could you see yourself with?" Naruto furrowed his brows together as he compared to two in his mind. He had always had a crush on Sakura, wanting to be noticed by her, but he had knon he never had a chance when she came to him begging to bring Sasuke back. And Hinata had always been nice to him, encouraging him, and even adopting the same nindo as him. Both of the girls were his precious people, but did he love Hinata? He knew he loved Sakura...but it felt more...sisterly to him now that he thought about it, where as when he thought of Hinata he felt his face heat up and his heart start to flutter.  
_

___________"I think...I think I love Hinata-chan..." Jiraiya grinned at his pupil, finally realizing his attraction to the shy Hyuga. When Jiraiya had first seen the two together, he could tell Hinata had loved Naruto, and even though he didn't know it himself, he had feelings for the Hyuga as well. Having years of experience, he knew these things.  
_

___________"You should only use the technique on the one you love, however." Naruto nodded and went into silence after that, thinking more on his new found feelings. He felt ill at the thought of Hinata with another man, and he felt even worse when he thought of her getting hurt, or dying._

**___________'Is...is this what love is? Caring more for someone else's safety than your own? So does this mean that I love Hinata?' _**___________As Naruto thought about it more and more, he had come to find that he did have feelings for the Hyuga, and he would get her back one day. He would be with her._

___________With thoughts of Hinata on his mind, he slowly found sleep gripping him, and snuggled into his bed, a grin on his face._

___________~Flashback End~_

Naruto turned his head back from Hinata and scanned his eyes around the area once more, staying vigilant and alert should he spot sign of the rouge's. As this was a purely civilian town, it wouldn't be that hard to find ninja in it.

"Hiro-kun, look..." Naruto's attention was immediately drawn to Hinata's light and soft voice as he turned to his left and couldn't help but smile.

"Ramen! Yuki-chan can we go?" Hinata giggled at Naruto's child like behavior and nodded as he nearly dragged her over to the stand. She was happy that Naruto was still the child like Naruto she had come to love when it came to Ramen. Naruto's eyes scanned the menu and he decided to have three of the shrimp and three of the beef Ramen.

"I'd like one chicken ramen please." Hinata ordered turning to look at Naruto already devouring his first bowl. It wasn't Ichiraku ramen of course, but any ramen was good in Naruto's book.

"When is your due date, dear?" The ramen server asked with a smile. She was an elderly woman and if Hinata had to guess she was probably the owner's wife.

"Excuse me?" Hinata questioned having no idea what she was talking about. The elderly woman laughed and pointed to Hinata's stomach.

"Your child, sweetie. You are wearing maternity clothes are you not?" Naruto nearly choked on his ramen at this information and Hinata's face blazed red. So the reason she was getting smiles and free fruits when they were walking through town was because people thought she was expecting?

"Ahhh y-y-yes w-well-" Naruto cut off Hinata's spluttering by taking a hold of her hand. He could do this, he told himself. Just make up a date.

"The child is due in August." The elderly woman smiled at the couple and nodded.

"You are the cutest couple I have ever seen! Modest too. I am sure your child will be absolutely beautiful." Hinata and Naruto both blushed at this but nodded and smiled back.

"Arigato!" Naruto called as he placed a chaste kiss on Hinata cheek. If she was her younger self, she would have fainted ages ago. But her heart was still fluttering like a mad man.

After Naruto had eaten a few more bowls, the pretend couple thanked the owner and his wife for the ramen and continued on their way, both still blushing from the fact Hinata was in maternity clothes.

"Hiro!" A voice called out from down the hill. Naruto turned his attention to the voice and saw Sasuke and Sakura walking towards him. He could only guess they had information.

"Kyohei whats up?" Sasuke shook his head.

"Nothing good. Madara has these machines that are being manufactured and they are supposed to be able to take out ninja. The man we saw was one of the Rouge ninja's his name was Dar and they are planning to test them out on this town in two days!" Hinata gasped at this horrid information and involuntarily clutched onto Naruto's arm even tighter.

"We have to stop them! We can't just let them level this town." Naruto exclaimed thinking back to the nice elderly couple that owned the ramen stand and Tazuna and his family. They couldn't let these innocent people loose their lives.

"We have to come up with a plan. We have to intercept these things before they reach the village. And we have to find the villager that was in cahoots with the rouge ninja." Sakura spoke up to this.

"He owns a vegetable stand, I remember seeing him walk out from the vegetable stand." Hinata spoke next.

"We need to keep a close eye on the vegetable stand. Hiro maybe you should make a shadow clone and keep it there?" Naruto nodded and made one clone, putting a henge on it so that it wouldn't look the same as him.

"What should we do about the villagers? If we start evacuating them it will be really obvious." Sakura voiced as she turned to Sasuke. Sasuke thought of this and sighed

"Fumi's right, we can't have them leaving." Hinata turned to Sasuke.

"Kyohei remember the jutsu Sou and Harumi-sensei taught us? Wouldn't that work?" Sasuke thought about it for a few moments before nodding. Sakura couldn't help but become a little angry at Hinata's comment and made it a point to glare harder at her. Even Naruto couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

Naruto looked to the group and started to speak, he had an idea and it might just be crazy enough to work.

"Okay so here's what we do..."

* * *

Sakura was lying on their bed at the inn lost in thought, the sound of the water running from Sasuke's shower could be heard throughout the room, and the sound of the wind outside seemed to be howling at her. She couldn't help but to think back on their conversation from earlier. Did he really mean what he said?

She didn't have much time to dwell on it anymore, however, because the door had open to reveal Sasuke in only a towel. Sakura looked towards the door and tried so hard not to blush. The steam had all but surrounded him, flowing out of the door, and drops of water from his still damp hair cascaded down his toned chest and abs.

Sasuke smirked and leaned against the door way crossing his arms, indirectly flexing his biceps and triceps. He was going to have fun with this. Sakura scoffed at him. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Put a shirt on, Uchiha! No one wants to see that." Sasuke chuckled and walked towards his pack, pulling out a pair of black boxers and red sweat pants. He walked back into the bathroom and put them on, and this time when he walked back out he was clothed except for his torso.

"You sure about that? Sa-ku-ra..." Sakura growled at him. She had told him not to elongate the syllables in her name. It drove her insane...in a way she didn't want to admit or like.

"Well I wouldn't want to see you." Sasuke only smirked wider and plopped himself down onto the bed, resting his head on Sakura's outstretched legs right on top of her thighs so he was looking up at her.

"You really sure about that?" Sakura looked down at her now occupied legs and kicked them, making Sasuke move his head. There would be none of that. He wasn't coming near her, she wouldn't allow it. Not this time.

"Don't touch me, traitor." Sasuke frowned slightly at the name but shook it off, trying not to let it bother him. It was better of that way, for her to hate him, because he would only put her in danger, and he couldn't stand the thought of her in danger.

"You like it, Sa-ku-ra..." Sakura had just about had enough and turned to look him dead in the eye. As she was about to tell him off, she squeaked in surprise as she was suddenly pulled into a firm chest, and was now lying down on the bed instead of sitting up.

"Not again." She nearly whined as she flailed about to break free. Sasuke grunted.

"Sleep." Sasuke said as he held her tight, making sure she couldn't get away, and even went so far as to put his leg on top of hers to make sure she wouldn't flail.

"Sasuke..." Sakura growled out and tried to fight his grip but to no avail. She would not be in this position again. She would not let him just sleep near her again like she did in her sleeping bag.

Sasuke smirked. He finally got her to say his name. After much more struggle, Sakura had finally relented and let out a puff of hot air, trying to keep as far away from him as possible.

Sasuke again buried his head into Sakura's hair and inhaled her scent. He loved the smell of cherry blossoms, even as a child. And she kept his nightmares away, which he would never admit to anyone, not even her.

"Asshole..." was the last thing Sakura had uttered before she closed her eyes and gave up for the fight for freedom.

"Hn." Came Sasuke's only reply as he squeezed her tighter.

Finally he could sleep.

* * *

"Naruto-kun, you take the bed. I'll take the couch." Hinata insisted as she sat at the little table they provided in the room eating an orange she had packed. Naruto, always the gentleman, shook his head at her.

"Nonsense Hinata, you sleep in the bed and I'll take the couch." Hinata shook her head as well.

"No Naruto-kun seriously take the bed." Naruto looked at Hinata and sighed. This was going nowhere.

"Look, Hinata, you sleep on the bed. End of discussion." Hinata saw the look on Naruto's face and nodded, knowing that there was no point in arguing with him because she wouldn't win anyway.

"Do you want to take a shower first or can I?" Naruto asked her as he motioned towards the bathroom. He didn't know why but he felt really dirty and grimy for some reason.

"You can go first Naruto-kun." Naruto gave a hint of a smile and nodded grabbing a pair of green boxers with ramen bowls on them and a pair of grey sweat pants. Hinata had heard the door shut and the water turn on, the constant flow of water sounding throughout the room. As Hinata sat there two beings appeared on each shoulder. One was a miniature Hinata dressed in a white knee length dress and a halo with wings, while the other was a miniature Hinata dressed in a red leather corset outfit with horns and a tail.

**"Girl, you know you want to use your Byakugan to..yanno...see how much he's grown.." **Hinata blushed at what her evil miniature was implying and shook her head. She couldn't possibly do that. The angelic version of her nodded her head.

**"For once, I agree with evil Hina, girl you know you got to do it. What does Harumi-sensei always say? If the opportunity arises, you always take it." **Hinata looked at the angelic miniature skeptically. Evil and Angel Hina gave each other a high five and poofed from existence.

_**'Maybe they were right, a little peak wouldn't hurt would it?'**_ With that thought in mind Hinata turned toward the window and stealthily channeled chakra to her eyes activating her doujutsu. Soon enough her world went from one of color to one of grey as her vision increased ten fold and she could see 364 degrees around her.

She spotted Naruto in her vision and couldn't help but blush as what her eyes beheld. Suffice it to say, that boy has GREAT genetics because he certainly wasn't average.

Her face was blazing red as she stared for a few more minutes before deactivating her doujutsu not wanting to be spotted, unbeknownst to her that Naruto had already known she had peaked because the Kyuubi had told him so when he sensed a spike in chakra. Naruto couldn't help but feel a swell of his ego at that.

Our little Hinata's a naughty girl, isn't she?

* * *

**Done! this chapter was honestly a filler chapter. I didn't plan for it to turn out that way at first, but that's how it ended up and I felt it was just dragging on. I PROMISE you there will be more action and fighting in the next chapter and a majority of their abilities (meaning Sakura and Naruto) will FINALLY be revealed and the plot will start to unravel.**

**Till next time!**

**Review!  
**


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